Calculate an opportunity cost
See this course’s project requirements
A fictional local-market analysis with demand/supply schedules, equilibrium, shifts, opportunity costs and a bounded price-change explanation.
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What to include
- An opportunity-cost table with feasible alternatives and explicit value assumptions.
- A demand table and price-change quantity explanation.
- A supply table with matched units and a condition-change note.
- A market-balance table with model equilibrium and limits.
- A shift/movement comparison with an explicit causal-assumption note.
- A complete fictional microeconomic market brief.
Review and revise
Use these criteria to check your work and choose what to improve.
- All supplied records reconcile and the decision uses the named case rules.
- Calculations show units, intermediate values and a second check.
- Changed-input practice revises the affected result and identifies uncertainty.
- The final project combines six lesson records, separates fictional assumptions from current rules, and states a supported next step.
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The idea in everyday life
This is an original fictional practice case. No account, payment, personal record or outside participation is required. A fictional Saturday has one available two-hour block. Options valued by the learner: paid shift $30, free workshop valued $45, leisure valued $20. Only one can be chosen; values are supplied comparable dollar equivalents for this exercise.
The opportunity cost is the value of the best feasible alternative forgone, not the sum of every possible alternative.
Calculate an opportunity cost — worked practice
The opportunity cost is the value of the best feasible alternative forgone, not the sum of every possible alternative.
Use paper or a local table; label all amounts as fictional USD unless the case names another unit. A fictional Saturday has one available two-hour block. Options valued by the learner: paid shift $30, free workshop valued $45, leisure valued $20. Only one can be chosen; values are supplied comparable dollar equivalents for this exercise.
Mutually exclusive two-hour choices
Paste at A1.
| AChoice | BRequired hours | CSupplied comparable value USD |
|---|---|---|
| Paid shift | 2 | 30 |
| Free workshop | 2 | 45 |
| Leisure | 2 | 20 |
Copy as plain text
1. Step 1: List feasible alternatives for the same block
List feasible alternatives for the same block.
You should see: Shift, workshop and leisure each use the whole block.
The opportunity cost is the value of the best feasible alternative forgone, not the sum of every possible alternative.
2. Step 2: Select the highest supplied value
Select the highest supplied value.
You should see: Workshop value $45.
Keep this intermediate result so the final decision can be checked.
3. Step 3: Identify the next-best feasible alternative
Identify the next-best feasible alternative.
You should see: Paid shift $30.
Keep this intermediate result so the final decision can be checked.
4. Step 4: State the opportunity cost and assumptions
State the opportunity cost and assumptions.
You should see: Workshop opportunity cost $30, not $50 from adding both rejected options; subjective values are practice assumptions.
Keep this intermediate result so the final decision can be checked.
What to finish
An opportunity-cost table with feasible alternatives and explicit value assumptions.
Watch for this
Adding the values of mutually exclusive rejected alternatives.
How can I tell I understand it?
Identify the best feasible alternative forgone in a bounded resource choice on the supplied changed case while preserving the stated rule and checking the final record.
Quick knowledge check
Answer all 3 questions. Get at least 2 right and the lesson completes automatically.
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Answer all 3 questions above and get at least 2 right. You can review the explanations and try again.
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Source & access notes · checked 2026-10-01
Official page opened/read during Money expansion authoring; checked the relevant concept and access state. These sources do not establish funding eligibility.
Access: Official resource page and its readable overview/transcript inspected; no external LMS lesson or media playback is claimed.
Reuse: Original fictional practice, questions and calculations; paraphrased concepts with a source link. No source exercise copied.
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