Why a given tax will cause a bigger dead weight loss (DWL) if demand & supply are elastic?

Question

Why a given tax will cause a bigger dead weight loss (DWL) if demand & supply are elastic?

Answer 1

if you graph it out, you'll be able to compare easier.

in words, it is because suppliers sell a lot lesser of their goods as prices goes up, while consumers buy a lot lesser of the same goods as prices goes up.

when supply is elastic:

when prices goes up by a bit, suppliers increase production by a large quantity, and

when prices goes down by a bit, suppliers decrease production by a large quantity.

the net effect of the tax is that they receive less money from their sales, and so they are going to reduce production significantly.

the converse is true for the demand side. ie, prices goes up for the consumers, who in turn reduce consumption drastically.