Concept of total utility

Total utility (TU)

The total satisfaction received from the consumption of given quantities of a commodity by a consumer within a given time period is called total utility. In other words, total utility is the sum of all marginal utilities obtained from the consumption of different units of a commodity.

For example, a consumer consumes the first unit of an orange and gets 8 utils. As he consumes the second unit of orange he gets 6 utils. Now the total utility becomes 8 + 6 = 14.

Symbolically; 

TU = ∑MU
or, TU = AU x n

Where;

∑MU = Sum of Marginal Utilities
AU = Average Utilities
n = Number of Commodities

The concept of Total Utility can be made clear by the help of following schedule and diagram:

Units of orange	Total utility
1	8
2	14
3	18
4	20
5	20
6	18