Production Function — Part 1: Inputs, Output, and Total, Average and Marginal Product: visual lesson, ISC Class 12 Economics

Lesson

Production Function and Law of Variable Proportions

Part 1 — how inputs turn into output, and the three measures of output: total, average and marginal product.

In this lesson you will

Explain the production function and distinguish the short run from the long run
Calculate average and marginal product from a total product schedule, and total product from marginal products
Explain how total product and average product behave as marginal product changes

Part 1 at a glance

Concept

What a production function is

A production function is the technical relationship between the physical quantities of inputs and the maximum physical output, for a given technology.

It is written Q = f(L, K): output depends on labour and capital.

Q = f(L, K)

Compare

Fixed and variable factors

A fixed factor cannot be changed quickly as output changes: buildings, heavy machines, land under a lease.

A variable factor can be changed within the period: workers, raw materials, power.

Table classifying inputs of an imagined Bhagalpur silk shed: looms and the shed are fixed in the short run because they cannot be changed quickly; weavers and silk yarn are variable
Input at an imagined Bhagalpur silk shed	Short run	Why
Looms	Fixed	Take months to buy and install
Shed	Fixed	Cannot be enlarged quickly
Weavers	Variable	Can be hired within days
Silk yarn	Variable	Bought as output changes

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