Can an indifference curve never cross? (2024)

Can an indifference curve never cross?

Answer and Explanation:

Can an indifference curve cross itself?

Answer and Explanation:

No, an indifference curve can't cross itself.

What are the limitations of indifference curve?

Can indifference curves never cross on a preference map?

Indifference curves never intersect each other

Similarly, points A and C give the same satisfaction level, as they lie on IC2. Therefore, we can imply that B and C offer the same level of satisfaction, which is logically absurd. Hence, no two ICs can touch or intersect each other.

Which assumption ensures that indifference curves never cross?

Since A can't be preferred to B and B preferred to A at the same time, this is a violation of our assumptions of transitivity and more is better. Transitivity and more is better imply that indifference curves do not cross.

Why is it impossible for two indifference curves Cannot intersect?

If two indifference curves intersects each other than there would be more than one equilibrium or more than one point where the customer can get maximum satisfaction. This violates the laws of indifference curve.

What happens if indifference curves cross?

If the two indifference curves crossed, they would have a common point, say A. 'A' has the same utility as any of the points on curve 1 and curve 2. But this cannot be true, as more is always better. The curve which is farther IS better than the one closer to the origin.

Why are indifference curves infinite?

"Continuous" means infinitely divisible - just like there are infinitely many numbers between 1 and 2 all bundles are infinitely divisible. This assumption makes indifference curves continuous. If A has more of both x and y than B, then A is preferred to B.

Why can't indifference curves touch?

Indifference curves do not cross because the common point combination of good will confusingly and wrongly represent two amount of utility. Same set of consumption cannot represent two amount of utility for same individual. Actually, different IC represent different level of satisfaction.

What is indifference curve in simple words?

An indifference curve is a graphical representation of a combined products that gives similar kind of satisfaction to a consumer thereby making them indifferent.Every point on the indifference curve shows that an individual or a consumer is indifferent between the two products as it gives him the same kind of utility.

What are the three basic assumptions of the indifference curve?

The indifference approach is based on three basic assumptions: the assumption of completeness (or law of comparison), the assumption of consistency (or transi tivity) and the assumption of non-satiation (or non-satiety). These assumptions may sound complicated, but they are actually quite simple.

What are two assumptions of indifference curves?

Assumptions of Indifference Curve

The consumer consumes only two goods. There is the possibility of substituting one good for another but there is no perfect substitution. Two goods are divisible. The consumer must be rational.

Is indifference curves Cannot intersect each other True or false?

Indifference curves cannot intersect each other as it would break down the indifference curve analysis. This is because the consumer would have more than one point on the indifference curve giving him a different level of satisfaction.

Why can't indifference curves be thick?

The indifference curves cannot be thick because if they are thick, they would be violating the non-satiation assumption. The non-satiation assumption states that for a rational consumer, more of a good is better, keeping other things constant.

Do indifference curves have to be parallel?

Indifference Curves need not be Parallel to Each Other.

This is because they are not based on the cardinal number system of measurability of utility. Secondly, the rate of substitution between two commodities need not be the same in all indifference schedules.

What are the criticism of indifference curve analysis?

Indifference curve is said to make unrealistic assumptions about human behaviour. It is unable to explain risky choices undertaken by the consumer. It has been criticized for being an 'old wine in a new bottle' for it has merely rehashed the concept of diminishing marginal utility of a product in new terms.

What is the completeness assumption of the indifference curve?

Completeness. This assumption states that there are only two propositions we can make about a consumer's choices between bundles of goods – that they prefer one bundle to another, or they are indifferent to them. No other options are possible.

What is the perfect substitute indifference curve?

By using an indifference curve, economists can visualize how you will choose. Perfect substitutes are those goods that price is the only difference between the two. For them, the line will be a perfectly straight line.

What is a curve that does not intersect themselves called?

A closed curve is a curve that does not intersect itself.

Why two Isoquants can never cross?

Property 3: Isoquant curves cannot be tangent or intersect one another. Curves that intersect are incorrect and produce results that are invalid, as a common factor combination on each of the curves will reveal the same level of output, which is not possible.

What are the conditions for two curves to intersect?

When 𝑥 equals zero and 𝑦 equals zero, we can see that both equations become zero equals zero, which tells us that both curves pass through the origin. Remember, two curves intersect orthogonally at a point if their tangents are well defined at that point and are orthogonal to each other.

Can two indifference curves intersect explain your answer quizlet?

Explain why two indifference curves cannot intersect. more is preferred to less. But this violates transitivity, so indifference curves must not intersect.

What is always true about indifference curves?

Indifference curves never cross. If they could cross, it would create large amounts of ambiguity as to what the true utility is. The farther out an indifference curve lies, the farther it is from the origin, and the higher the level of utility it indicates.

What are the four properties of indifference curves?

Why can't indifference curves be positively sloped?

Only when utility stays constant when you increase consumption of both goods will indifference curve have positive slope, and that will generally happen when consuming more of one good creates disutility.