Practice problem
Reciprocals — Definition & Examples
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In economics, the opportunity cost of doing one thing, A, rather than another, B, is the ratio of the amount of B done to the amount of A done in the same time. The opportunity cost of doing B rather than A is the reciprocal of that ratio.
Suppose Sam's opportunity cost for ironing shirt is cooking meals, meaning that he needs the same amount of time to iron shirt as he needs to cook meals. What would be Sam's opportunity cost for cooking meal, in terms of number of shirts ironed?