Economics A170 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: A170 Road, Negative Number
15 May 2020
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Movement along a curve: one of the two graphed variables change value. Shifts in a curve: a variable not graphed changes value. Measure of sensitivity of y-variable to a change in x-variable. Ratio of the vertical distance covered to the horizontal distance covered or change in y over change in x . Fairly flat upward-sloping line: slope = small positive number. Steep upward-sloping line: slope = large positive number. Downward sloping line: slope = negative number. Slope formula for linear curves: change in y/change in x. Draw a straight line between the two end-points of the arc. Slope of that straight line is a measure of the average slope of the curve between those two end-points. We use the arc method to estimate the slope of a non-linear curve between two points. Draw a straight line that is tangent to the curve at a point. Calculate the slope of this tangent line. Provides the exact slope at that point.
