Question

Mark and Julie are going to sell brownies and cookies for their third annual fundraiser bake sale. In one day, Mark can make 40 brownies or 20 cookies, and Julie can make 15 brownies or 15 cookies. What is Mark's opportunity cost to produce one brownie?

Answer 1

Answer:

The opportunity cost of producing one brownie for mark is 0.5.

Explanation:

We know that the resources are scarce with alternative uses. To allocate it on one good we need to reduce the production of the other good. The opportunity cost can be defined as the cost of giving up the second-best alternative or the benefit that could have been earned if the alternative was not sacrificed.  

Here, Mark can make either 40 brownies in a day or 20 cookies.  

The opportunity cost for him for making a brownie will be  

= $\frac{What\ is\ sacrificed}{What\ is\ gained}$

= $\frac{20}{40}$

= 0.5