Read the following statements, Assertion (A) and Reason (R):
Assertion (A): The production possibility frontier slopes downward from left to right.
Reason (R): With given resources and technology, if we want to have more of one of the goods, we will have less of the other good.
From the given alternatives, choose the correct one:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true and Reason (R) is the correct explanation of Assertion (A).
Assertion (A): The production possibility frontier slopes downward from left to right. — True. As we move along the frontier towards more corn, the cotton produced falls. The curve goes down from left to right.
Reason (R): With given resources and technology, if we want to have more of one of the goods, we will have less of the other good. — True. With fixed resources, using more of them for one good leaves fewer for the other.
Why R explains A?
A downward slope means that more of one good goes with less of the other. R says why this happens: resources taken into corn must come out of cotton. So the trade-off in R is the cause of the downward slope in A.
NCERT (2026-27): “Production Possibility Frontier If more of the scarce resources are used in the production of corn, less resources are available for the production of cotton and vice versa. Therefore, if we want to have more of one of the goods, we will have less of the other good. Thus, there is always a cost of having a little more of one good in terms of the amount of the other good that has to be forgone. …” “If all the resources are used in the production of corn, the maximum amount of corn that can be produced is 4 units and if all resources are used in the production of cotton, at the most, 10 units of cotton can be produced. The economy can also produce 1 unit of corn and 9 units of cotton or 2 units of corn and 7 units of cotton or 3 units of corn and 4 units of cotton. …” |