Use the chart to answer the question.

\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|}
\hline
Quantity & Price & Total Revenue & Marginal Revenue & Total Cost & Marginal Cost & Profit (or Loss) \\
\hline
1 & \[tex]$20 & \$[/tex]20 & & \[tex]$14 & & \\
\hline
2 & \$[/tex]19 & \[tex]$38 & & \$[/tex]24 & & \\
\hline
3 & \[tex]$18 & \$[/tex]54 & & \[tex]$39 & & \\
\hline
4 & \$[/tex]17 & \[tex]$68 & & & & \\
\hline
5 & \$[/tex]16 & \$80 & & & & \\
\hline
\end{tabular}

At which output quantity is this business firm experiencing a loss (negative profit)?

A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5



Answer :

To determine at which output quantity the business firm is experiencing a loss, we need to compare the Total Revenue and Total Cost for each quantity, and compute the Profit (or Loss) by subtracting Total Cost from Total Revenue.

Let's go through the data step-by-step:

1. Quantity: 1
- Total Revenue: \[tex]$20 - Total Cost: \$[/tex]14
- Profit (or Loss): \[tex]$20 - \$[/tex]14 = \[tex]$6 (Profit) 2. Quantity: 2 - Total Revenue: \$[/tex]38
- Total Cost: \[tex]$24 - Profit (or Loss): \$[/tex]38 - \[tex]$24 = \$[/tex]14 (Profit)

3. Quantity: 3
- Total Revenue: \[tex]$54 - Total Cost: \$[/tex]39
- Profit (or Loss): \[tex]$54 - \$[/tex]39 = \[tex]$15 (Profit) 4. Quantity: 4 - Total Revenue: \$[/tex]68
- Total Cost: Not provided
- Profit (or Loss): Cannot be calculated due to missing Total Cost data

5. Quantity: 5
- Total Revenue: \$80
- Total Cost: Not provided
- Profit (or Loss): Cannot be calculated due to missing Total Cost data

From the steps above, we observe that for quantities 1, 2, and 3, the firm is experiencing a profit. For quantities 4 and 5, we cannot determine profit or loss due to missing Total Cost data.

Since none of the provided quantities (1, 2, 3) show a loss and for other quantities (4, 5), the Total Cost is missing, it can be concluded that there is no quantity where the firm experiences a loss based on the given data.

Therefore, the firm is not experiencing a loss (negative profit) at any of the provided output quantities.