Demand vs. Quantity Demanded Worksheet with Answers

Use this 20-minute demand vs. quantity demanded worksheet after students have met a demand curve and before they combine supply and demand shifts. It checks whether they can separate a change in the product's own price from a change in buyers' circumstances. The student tasks and teacher key are below; copy only the student section into a handout or your LMS if you want students to work without seeing the answers.

Teacher setup

Students need paper and a pencil. No device or account is required for the written activity. Allow three minutes for an individual warm-up, seven for the scenario sort, five for the graph task, and five for the explanation and exit check. These are suggested timings, not a tested completion-time claim.

Have students answer individually before comparing with a partner. Ask them to underline the market being analyzed, circle the thing that changed, and then choose a movement or a shift. Keep equilibrium price predictions out of the first round: this diagnostic isolates demand. For the concept explanation, see change in demand versus change in quantity demanded.

Student worksheet

Directions: Treat each scenario separately. Hold all unstated influences constant. Use these four labels: quantity demanded increases, quantity demanded decreases, demand increases, or demand decreases. For every answer, identify the cause and say whether the graph shows movement along the existing demand curve or a shift of that curve.

Warm-up

In one sentence each, explain what a demand curve shows and what quantity demanded means at a particular price. Does a demand curve describe just one possible purchase quantity?

A. Eight scenario cards

For cards 3 and 4, explain why a price change does not automatically mean movement along the curve you are analyzing.

B. Draw the difference

This is an invented weekly market schedule. Quantities are smoothies per week. Assume smoothies are a normal good for these buyers, and hold all other demand influences constant when income rises.

1. Draw price on the vertical axis and quantity on the horizontal axis. Plot the three D1 points and join them.

2. Mark A at a price of $6 on D1 and B at a price of $4 on D1. Calculate the change in quantity demanded from A to B. Is the demand curve itself different?

3. Plot D2. At the unchanged price of $4, mark C on D2. Calculate the difference between B and C. Which event explains that difference?

4. A classmate says, 'Both changes increased purchases, so both are increases in demand.' Rewrite the statement using the correct terms.

C. Exit check

A crop disease reduces the supply of strawberries. The equilibrium price of strawberries rises. Assume nothing shifts strawberry demand. Did demand for strawberries decrease, or did quantity demanded decrease? Name the unchanged curve and describe the movement.

Teacher answer key

Warm-up: A demand curve shows the relationship between the good's price and the quantity buyers are willing and able to purchase at each price, holding other demand influences constant. Quantity demanded is the amount at one specified price. The curve contains multiple price-quantity combinations, not just one purchase quantity.

Graph task: With coordinates written as (quantity, price), D1 passes through (90, 2), (60, 4), and (30, 6). D2 passes through (110, 2), (80, 4), and (50, 6). A is (30, 6), B is (60, 4), and C is (80, 4). A to B adds 30 smoothies per week along the same demand curve. B to C adds 20 smoothies per week at the same price because higher income shifted demand right, assuming smoothies are normal. At each listed price, D2 is 20 units to the right of D1.

An acceptable correction is: 'A lower own price increased quantity demanded along D1. Higher income increased demand, moving the market from D1 to D2.' Do not accept 'price shifts demand' for A to B.

Exit check: Quantity demanded decreases as buyers move up and left along the unchanged strawberry demand curve. The initiating change was a decrease in supply. The resulting higher price does not create a second, independent demand shift.

Use the mistakes to choose the next lesson

If a student misses cards 1 or 7, have them point to two positions on one curve before giving more shift examples. If they miss cards 3 or 4, ask them to put the name of the graph's good beside the vertical price axis and compare it with the good whose price changed. If they miss card 5, require the normal-or-inferior assumption before discussing income. These responses reveal different misunderstandings even when the final arrows happen to match.

For a follow-up, open the supply and demand sandbox and shift supply left while keeping demand fixed. Ask students to describe the resulting movement along demand. Then use the supply and demand classroom activity to combine a written explanation with graph practice.

See it move

Make it move

Supply and demand at equilibrium, drawn by the interactive graph. Tap it to drag the curves, open the full version, or put it on your own site free, or turn it into a five-minute class activity.

Concept reference

The diagnostic scenarios, schedule, and answer key were created for this worksheet. The distinction between a demand relationship and a quantity at one price is checked against OpenStax, section 3.1; the treatment of income and related goods is checked against section 3.2.