Grade 9 · Social Studies · Unit 5 of 6
Supply & Demand
How prices are set in a market
What your child practises
Why prices rise or fall, what a shortage and a surplus are, how costs and substitutes affect prices, and where government price controls come in.
Alberta Curriculum learning outcome: 9.2 · supply, demand, prices and how markets respond to change
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
When the price of a good goes up, what usually happens to the quantity people want to buy?
- It doubles
- It goes down
- It goes up
- It stays exactly the same
Show answer
It goes down
Hint: At higher prices, fewer people can or will buy.
Question 2
The price of gasoline rises sharply. What is likely to happen to the demand for fuel-efficient cars?
- It will not change
- It will disappear
- It will increase
- It will fall
Show answer
It will increase
Hint: Buyers look for ways to cut fuel costs.
Question 3
An item's demand schedule shows buyers at different prices. Which describes a normal demand curve?
- Quantity is always constant
- Price and quantity are unrelated
- As price rises, quantity demanded rises
- As price rises, quantity demanded falls
Show answer
As price rises, quantity demanded falls
Hint: This inverse relationship is the law of demand.
Question 4
The table shows how many cups of hot chocolate customers want each day at different prices. How many cups do they want at $5?
Daily demand Price Cups wanted $2 100 $3 85 $4 70 $5 55 answer box
Show answer
55
Hint: Read across from the price to the quantity demanded.
Question 5
A surplus happens when…
- the quantity supplied is greater than the quantity demanded at the current price
- buyers cannot find the product
- there are not enough sellers
- the price falls to zero
Show answer
the quantity supplied is greater than the quantity demanded at the current price
Hint: Surpluses can lead sellers to lower prices.
Question 6
What is demand?
- how much a seller has
- what the government charges
- the cost of making something
- how much of a good or service buyers want and are able to buy at different prices
Show answer
how much of a good or service buyers want and are able to buy at different prices
Hint: Demand is about buyers.