To find the slope in economics, you typically look at a graph that represents a relationship between two variables, such as price and quantity. The slope is calculated as the change in the vertical variable (usually the dependent variable) divided by the change in the horizontal variable (the independent variable).
Mathematically, the slope (m) can be expressed as:
m = (Δy) / (Δx)
Where:
Δy = Change in the dependent variable (e.g., quantity demanded)
Δx = Change in the independent variable (e.g., price)
For instance, if you find that when the price of a product increases by $10, the quantity demanded decreases by 5 units, the slope of the demand curve would be:
m = (-5) / (10) = -0.5
This negative slope indicates that as the price increases, the quantity demanded decreases, which is a typical behavior in economics known as the law of demand.