To determine the opportunity cost of producing corn in the United States, we need to compare corn production with diamond production. Here's a detailed step-by-step explanation:
1. Understand the Data:
- The United States can produce either 60 units of corn or 10 units of diamonds in one week.
2. Determine the Concept of Opportunity Cost:
- Opportunity cost is defined as the value of the next best alternative forgone. In this case, it measures how many units of diamonds the United States gives up to produce one more unit of corn.
3. Calculate the Opportunity Cost:
- Since the United States can produce either 60 units of corn or 10 units of diamonds, the opportunity cost of producing one unit of corn is the number of diamonds forgone by producing one unit of corn.
4. Set Up the Calculation:
- The opportunity cost of one unit of corn = (Diamonds forgone) / (Corn produced)
- The total number of diamonds that can be produced is 10, and the total number of corn that can be produced is 60.
- Therefore, for each unit of corn produced, the forgone production of diamonds is 10 / 60.
5. Simplify the Fraction:
- 10 / 60 simplifies to 1 / 6.
So, the fraction that represents the opportunity cost for the United States to produce one unit of corn is [tex]\( \frac{1}{6} \)[/tex].
Thus, among the given choices, the correct answer representing the opportunity cost is not explicitly listed, but the correct fraction is [tex]\( \frac{1}{6} \)[/tex].
