The means of production are the things used to make products, such as tools, supplies, and factories. For example, a clothing factory needs sewing machines, fabric, and a place to work. Labor is the work people do with those things, like cutting fabric and sewing it into shirts.
In Marx’s view, value comes from the human labor normally needed to produce something. A product also has to be useful to people. For example, a jacket keeps someone warm, and making it takes work. Its value is connected to the usual amount of labor needed to make it, not just its price tag.
Labor creates new value by turning materials into finished products. Fabric does not become a shirt on its own. Workers have to measure, cut, and sew it. What matters is the time normally needed to do this work. Taking longer just because someone works slowly does not automatically make the shirt more valuable.
Labor power is someone’s ability to work, including their skills and energy. Labor is the actual work they perform. A person who knows how to sew has labor power. When they spend their shift making shirts, they are doing labor. The employer pays to use their ability to work for that time, rather than paying them the full value they create.
Surplus value is the value workers add beyond what they receive in wages. For example, suppose a worker adds $250 in new value during a day, after accounting for materials and equipment used. If the worker gets paid $100, the remaining $150 is surplus value. In Marx’s explanation, this is the source of the owner’s profit. It matters because it shows how owners can build wealth from workers’ labor while workers depend on their paychecks.