​A Rain Barrel Is a Container That Captures and Stores

question 399

Multiple Choice

​A rain barrel is a container that captures and stores rainwater for landscape and garden use during dry periods. As a result, rain barrels benefit the community through water conservation. If homeowners do not consider this external benefit of rain barrels, then

• A)​the socially optimal quantity of rain barrels will be larger than the equilibrium quantity of rain barrels.
• B)​the socially optimal quantity of rain barrels will be smaller than the equilibrium quantity of rain barrels.
• C)​the socially optimal price of rain barrels will be lower than the equilibrium price of rain barrels.
• D)the market for rain barrels would benefit from a tax on rain barrels.

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Definitions:

Food Chain

A sequence of organisms each dependent on the next as a source of food, illustrating the flow of energy and nutrients from one organism to another.

Kilocalories

A unit of energy measurement in food, commonly called a calorie, equal to 1,000 real calories or the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.

Terrestrial Ecosystems

Ecosystems found on land as opposed to aquatic environments, characterized by the organisms that inhabit them and the environment they live in.

Aquifers

Underground layers of water-bearing permeable rock or materials through which groundwater can move and be stored.