In economics, we need to use terms a little more carefully than they are sometimes used in ordinary discussions. In general use, "Demand" is a word that can have more than one meaning, but in microeconomics we define it more carefully so that it has only one meaning. Here is the definition:
Demand is the relationship between price and quantity demanded for a particular good and service in particular circumstances. For each price the demand relationship tells the quantity the buyers want to buy at that corresponding price. The quantity the buyers want to buy at a particular price is called the Quantity Demanded.
The key point is to distinguish between demand (the relationship) and quantity demanded. That distinction is important for microeconomics, although people often do not make it in ordinary discussion.
To keep it simple, we may think of the buyers as consumers. (Later we will look at markets for inputs to production, in which the buyers are producer
Economists call this the Law of Demand:
price, cents/gal. Quantity demanded, millions of gals.
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