Loosely speaking, it seems a bit small doesn't it? After all, it says that if price rises by 2% quantity demanded will fall by only 1%, and if price falls by 4% quantity demanded will increase by only 2%.

   Suppose elasticity had been 2, rather than 0.5. If the own price elasticity of demand is 2, any change in price will be met by a change in demand that is twice as large (in the opposite direction). A 5% drop in price would lead to a 10% increase in quantity demanded, and a 3% increase in price will lead to a 6% drop in quantity demanded. In this case, with an elasticity of 2, demand responds strongly to price changes.

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