Marginal cost typically follows a U-shaped curve, initially decreasing due to economies of scale but eventually rising as production facilities reach capacity and face diminishing returns.

If marginal product is decreasing, then average product must also be decreasing ... The slope of the short-run total cost curve equals the slope of the short-run variable cost curve at every output. 7 ...

Below is the graph of a quadratic function, showing where the function is increasing and decreasing. If we draw in the tangents to the curve, you will notice that if the gradient of the tangent is ...