Question

Why two indifference curves cannot intersect each other?

Explain the following:

Two indifference curves never intersect.

Answer 1

An important property of indifference curves is that they may lie close to each other, but they never intersect. This follows from the fact that each indifference curve represents a different level of satisfaction. Therefore, two indifference curves do not intersect or touch each other. If the two indifference curves intersect each other, this would imply that a combination of two goods corresponding to the point of intersection would give two different levels of satisfaction, which is absurd.

It is important to note two important facts about indifference curve. Firstly, indifference curve do not touch X-axis or Y-axis as we assume that a consumer buys both the goods shown on X-axis and Y-axis. In case an indifference curve touches either axes, it means that consumer consumes only one commodity. Secondly, the indifference curves need not be parallel to one another. The slope of the indifference curve depends on the marginal rate of substitution between two commodities shown on the two axis.