Question 1

→ Create your own demand schedule for buying notebooks at different prices. At what price would you buy the most? At what price would you stop buying altogether? What could be the reason behind your choices? → Ask your family members if they postponed or advanced buying any product because of future expectations of changes in price?

Accepted Answer

What the task asks - Make your own notebook demand schedule at different prices, say why your numbers change, and then ask your family about a purchase they postponed or advanced. Worked example (sample figures only — yours will differ) - ₹150 a notebook → 0 bought; ₹120 → 1; ₹80 → 2; ₹50 → 4; ₹20 → 8. - You buy the most at the lowest price, ₹20 — the same money now buys far more, so your purchasing power stretches further. - You stop buying altogether at ₹150 — that is above what your pocket money can bear, so the willingness is there but the ability is not, and without both there is no demand. - Notice the shape: the quantity never rises when the price rises. That is the Law of Demand in your own handwriting. - Family part, as an example: an aunt postponed buying a washing machine until the festival sale because she expected discounts — expecting a price fall lowers present demand. A neighbour bought cement early because he expected the rate to climb — expecting a price rise raises present demand. What a good answer must contain - Four or five price-quantity pairs where quantity never increases as price increases. - A named highest-buying price and a named cut-off price, each with a reason (pocket money, how many notebooks you actually need, diminishing marginal utility). - At least one real family answer, saying whether the purchase was postponed or advanced and what price change they expected.

Question 2

What happens to the supply of a product in case of a change in the cost of inputs, discovery of an alternate input, depletion of resources, change in weather, disaster, etc.? Discuss in class using examples of diverse goods and services.

Accepted Answer

What the task asks - Work out, and then discuss in class, which way supply moves under five kinds of shock, using examples from different goods and services. Worked example - Cost of inputs rises → supply falls. Costlier fertiliser, fuel or wages means each unit costs more to make and profit shrinks, so producers make less. Costlier diesel, for instance, raises what a transporter charges and reduces the number of trips he is willing to run. - Cost of inputs falls → supply rises, for the same reason in reverse. - Discovery of an alternate input → supply rises. A cheaper substitute input lowers the cost of production, exactly as improved technology does; the producer can now make and offer more at the same price. - Depletion of resources → supply falls. If groundwater runs low or fish stocks are overfished, the raw material simply is not there, however high the price goes. - Change in weather → supply swings. A good monsoon means a large mango or wheat crop and plentiful supply; a hailstorm or drought cuts it. - Disaster → supply falls sharply and prices jump. A flood, an earthquake or a pandemic damages production and transport; the chapter's mask example from 2020 shows supply unable to catch up with demand. What a good answer must contain - All five situations, each with the direction supply moves (up or down) and the reason — cost of production, availability of the resource, or ability to produce and transport. - At least one example that is a service, not a good (transport, tuition, hotel rooms, repairs), since supply shocks hit services too. - The link back to price: when supply is less than demand prices rise, and when supply exceeds demand prices fall.

Question 3

From your surroundings, list two goods or services that are provided by the government (for example: roads, streetlights, parks, police, and so on.). Choose one of the goods you listed and answer: → Who does benefit from it? → Why would it be difficult for a private company to provide this service on its own? → Imagine the government stops providing this good or service, what problems might people in your area face?

Accepted Answer

What the task asks - List two goods or services the government provides near you, pick one, and answer the three questions about it. Worked example: streetlights (an example — list what you actually see) - Two you might list: streetlights and the public park; or roads, police, drainage, a government school, a public hospital. Who benefits from it - Everyone who uses the road, and nobody can be shut out — people walking home, children, women travelling after dark, cyclists, bus passengers, and shopkeepers who can stay open later. - You benefit even if you never paid for it, and your using the light does not use it up for anyone else. Why a private company would find it hard - It earns no direct profit — you cannot stop a passer-by from walking in the light, so you cannot make them pay. - That leads to the chapter's park problem: each family thinks, "if others pay, it will be built anyway and I can use it free." Not enough money is collected, and the light never goes up even though everyone wants it. - This is exactly why such goods usually need government provision or funding. If the government stopped providing it - Dark roads, so more accidents and more thefts. - People, especially women and the elderly, afraid to go out after sunset. - Shops closing early, so less business and lower earnings for the whole locality. What a good answer must contain - Two goods actually seen in your area, not copied from the list. - Named beneficiaries, including people who could not pay for it themselves. - The profit reason and the free-rider reason for why a private firm would not supply it. - At least two concrete problems that would follow if it stopped.

NCERT Solutions · Class 9 Social Science The Price Puzzle: What Drives the Market

Let's Explore 9.1–9.3 (part 3 of 6)

Exercise 9.1

Exercise 9.2

Exercise 9.3