The correct answer is B) coal.
The industry that was influenced by the steam engine and first allowed for technological innovations in transportation was the coal industry.
The steam engine used coal to work. This new invention served to produce energy in a most powerful way than other devices.
The invention of the steam engine changed the way people produced goods in industries and in the transportation industry. Indeed, this invention transformed industries.
New machines in the fabrics helped to introduce the concept of mass production to produce goods more efficiently and at better costs. In the transportation industry, the steam engine allowed the development of railroads as the best means of transportation in the 1800s.
Accountants only concern themselves with direct costs which involve things like the cost of materials, rent, and labor for instance. This profit is aptly named "accounting profit".
Economists consider those costs as well, but they also include indirect costs such as opportunity costs of other investments. Recall that opportunity cost is the cost of what you give up if you make a certain decision.
For instance, if a car factory makes 4 door sedans, but it could be making more money with SUVs, then the opportunity cost is high and the economic profit is lower compared to the accounting profit.
