Graphing a Supply Curve from a Supply Schedule, and How to Read a Supply Graph

How do you graph a supply curve? Learn how to build and read supply curves on supply and demand graphs using real-world economics examples.

In this MRU video, we walk step-by-step through how to create a supply curve from a supply schedule and explain the two key ways economists read supply graphs.

You’ll learn:

• How to graph a supply curve from a supply schedule — data showing the quantity supplied at various prices
• Why supply curves slope upward
• How price affects quantity supplied
• The “horizontal method” for reading supply curves: the quantity supplied at a given price
• The “vertical method” for finding minimum acceptable prices at a given quantity

Using the market for oil as an example, we show how to convert a supply schedule into a graph and how to interpret what the graph means in practice.