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Economics has a ton of applications since they are interested in relationships between variables, not functions per se. Two simplish ones that come to mind are

• Price elasticity of demand: Supply curves are just a relation between supply and demand, it need not be functional. You can derive the price elasticity in this setting. Here's are some good notes from Y. Katznelsons course at UCSC.

• A typical problem looks like: Price $p$ and quantity $q$ are related by $p^2 - pq + q^2 = 400$. When the price is \$4, estimate the percent change in profit when the price is raised 1%.

• To generalize the above, comparative statics uses implicit differentiation to study the effect of variable changes in economic models. Here's a decent introduction with example problems.

• Preference bundles, utility and indifference curves. You have to gloss over some machinery but you're essentially doing calculus on level curves. If this looks interesting peek into the first few chapters of Hal Varian's Intermediate Microeconomics.

• A sample problem would look like: Kim has \$10 to buy flour and GI Joe's. A bag of flour is \$.50 and a GI Joe is \$2. If the expected utility of $x_1$ bags of flour and $x_2$ GI Joes is $U(x_1,x_2) = \sqrt{x_1^2 + x_2^2}$, what point along the budget curve maximized utility? Sol: Find the point where tangent line to is the budget line.

Economics has a ton of applications since they are interested in relationships between variables, not functions per se. Two simplish ones that come to mind are

• Price elasticity of demand: Supply curves are just a relation between supply and demand, it need not be functional. You can derive the price elasticity in this setting. Here's are some good notes from Y. Katznelsons course at UCSC.

• A typical problem looks like: Price $p$ and quantity $q$ are related by $p^2 - pq + q^2 = 400$. When the price is \$4, estimate the percent change in profit when the price is raised 1%.

  • If your students are particularly bright, you can use $p^2 - 2pq + q^2 = 400$ and ask them to show you that the analysis is the same for $p - q = 20$, which is an equivalent equation since $p,q \geq 0$.

• To generalize the above, comparative statics uses implicit differentiation to study the effect of variable changes in economic models. Here's a decent introduction with example problems.

• Preference bundles, utility and indifference curves. You have to gloss over some machinery but you're essentially doing calculus on level curves. If this looks interesting peek into the first few chapters of Hal Varian's Intermediate Microeconomics.

• A sample problem would look like: Kim has \$10 to buy flour and GI Joe's. A bag of flour is \$.50 and a GI Joe is \$2. If the expected utility of $x_1$ bags of flour and $x_2$ GI Joes is $U(x_1,x_2) = \sqrt{x_1^2 + x_2^2}$, what point along the budget curve maximized utility? Sol: Find the point where tangent line to is the budget line.

Economics has a ton of applications since they are interested in relationships between variables, not functions per se. Two simplish ones that come to mind are

• Price elasticity of demand: Supply curves are just a relation between supply and demand, it need not be functional. You can derive the price elasticity in this setting. Here's are some good notes from Y. Katznelsons course at UCSC.

• A typical problem looks like: Price $p$ and quantity $q$ are related by $p^2 - pq + q^2 = 400$. When the price is \$4, estimate the percent change in profit when the price is raised 1%.

• To generalize the above, comparative statics uses implicit differentiation to study the effect of variable changes in economic models. Here's a decent introduction with example problems.

• Preference bundles, utility and indifference curves. You have to gloss over some machinery but you're essentially doing calculus on level curves. If this looks interesting peek into the first few chapters of Hal Varian's Intermediate Microeconomics.

• A sample problem would look like: Kim has \$10 to buy flour and GI Joe's. A bag of flour is \$.50 and a GI Joe is \$2. If the expected utility of $x_1$ bags of flour and $x_2$ GI Joes is $U(x_1,x_2) = \sqrt{x_1^2 + x_2^2}$, what point along the budget curve maximized utility? Sol: Find the point where tangent line to U matches budget line.

Economics has a ton of applications since they are interested in relationships between variables, not functions per se. Two simplish ones that come to mind are

• Price elasticity of demand: Supply curves are just a relation between supply and demand, it need not be functional. You can derive the price elasticity in this setting. Here's are some good notes from Y. Katznelsons course at UCSC.

• A typical problem looks like: Price $p$ and quantity $q$ are related by $p^2 - pq + q^2 = 400$. When the price is \$4, estimate the percent change in profit when the price is raised 1%.

• To generalize the above, comparative statics uses implicit differentiation to study the effect of variable changes in economic models. Here's a decent introduction with example problems.

• Preference bundles, utility and indifference curves. You have to gloss over some machinery but you're essentially doing calculus on level curves. If this looks interesting peek into the first few chapters of Hal Varian's Intermediate Microeconomics.

• A sample problem would look like: Kim has \$10 to buy flour and GI Joe's. A bag of flour is \$.50 and a GI Joe is \$2. If the expected utility of $x_1$ bags of flour and $x_2$ GI Joes is $U(x_1,x_2) = \sqrt{x_1^2 + x_2^2}$, what point along the budget curve maximized utility? Sol: Find the point where tangent line to is the budget line.

Economics has a ton of applications since they are interested in relationships between variables, not functions per se. Two simplish ones that come to mind are

• Price elasticity of demand: Supply curves are just a relation between supply and demand, it need not be functional. You can derive the price elasticity in this setting. Here's are some good notes from Y. Katznelsons course at UCSC. A typical problem looks like: Price $p$ and quantity $q$ are related by $p^2 - pq + q^2 = 400$. When the price is \$4, estimate the percent change in profit when the price is raised 1%.

• To generalize the above, comparative statics uses implicit differentiation to study the effect of variable changes in economic models. Here's a decent introduction with example problems.

• Preference bundles, utility and indifference curves. You have to gloss over some machinery but you're essentially doing calculus on level curves. If this looks interesting peek into the first few chapters of Hal Varian's Intermediate Microeconomics. A sample problem would look like: Kim has \$10 to buy flour and GI Joe's. A bag of flour is \$.50 and a GI Joe $x_2$ is \$2. If the expected utility of $x_1$ bags of flour and $x_2$ GI Joes is $U(x_1,x_2) = \sqrt{x_1^2 + x_2^2}$, what point along the budget curve maximized utility? Sol: Find the point where tangent line to U matches budget line.

Economics has a ton of applications since they are interested in relationships between variables, not functions per se. Two simplish ones that come to mind are

• Price elasticity of demand: Supply curves are just a relation between supply and demand, it need not be functional. You can derive the price elasticity in this setting. Here's are some good notes from Y. Katznelsons course at UCSC.

• A typical problem looks like: Price $p$ and quantity $q$ are related by $p^2 - pq + q^2 = 400$. When the price is \$4, estimate the percent change in profit when the price is raised 1%.

• To generalize the above, comparative statics uses implicit differentiation to study the effect of variable changes in economic models. Here's a decent introduction with example problems.

• Preference bundles, utility and indifference curves. You have to gloss over some machinery but you're essentially doing calculus on level curves. If this looks interesting peek into the first few chapters of Hal Varian's Intermediate Microeconomics. 

• A sample problem would look like: Kim has \$10 to buy flour and GI Joe's. A bag of flour is \$.50 and a GI Joe is \$2. If the expected utility of $x_1$ bags of flour and $x_2$ GI Joes is $U(x_1,x_2) = \sqrt{x_1^2 + x_2^2}$, what point along the budget curve maximized utility? Sol: Find the point where tangent line to U matches budget line.