This is known as the law of diminishing marginal utility. For instance, a thirsty person would derive more utility from the first glass of water than the successive ones. Properties of Indifference Curves 1. All points on the same indifference curve carry same level of satisfaction or utility. A point with higher level of utility will be on a higher indifference curve while a point with lower level of satisfaction will be on a lower indifference curve.
Indifference curves slope downward.
In order to get more of one good, one has to give up some amount of the other. Indifference curves do not intersect each other. The IC's are convex to the origin. The indifference curves slope downward. The marginal rate of substitution is the rate at which the consumer is just willing to substitute one good for another.