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Lesson Notes - Decision 1 Lesson 7 - Linear Programming: Formulating A Problem As A Linear Programming Problem

The document provides an example of how to formulate a business problem as a linear programming problem. It describes identifying decision variables and constraints, writing the objective function, and graphing the feasible region. The optimal solution will be at a vertex and can be found by solving the simultaneous equations of constraints. Integer values may require checking additional points near the optimal solution. More example problems are provided at the end.

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82 views

Lesson Notes - Decision 1 Lesson 7 - Linear Programming: Formulating A Problem As A Linear Programming Problem

The document provides an example of how to formulate a business problem as a linear programming problem. It describes identifying decision variables and constraints, writing the objective function, and graphing the feasible region. The optimal solution will be at a vertex and can be found by solving the simultaneous equations of constraints. Integer values may require checking additional points near the optimal solution. More example problems are provided at the end.

Uploaded by

sparrowjakazz
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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the Further Mathematics network

Lesson Notes Decision 1 Lesson 7 Linear Programming


Formulating a problem as a linear programming problem First: Identify the variables about which a decision is to be made. These are sometimes called the decision variables. For example, if your problem is to decide how many chairs to make and how many tables to make to maximise profit Let x = no. of chairs Let y = no. of tables. If your problem is to work out how many grams of wheat germ and how many grams of oat flour there should be in a new food product to meet nutrition requirements and minimise cost then: Let x = no. of grams of wheat germ Let y = no. of grams of oat flour. Next: Decide what the objective function is in terms of x and y (this is the value you are trying to maximise or minimise) and what the constraints are as inequalities (although sometimes equalities) involving x and y. Be careful to use units consistently. Sometimes you could be given some units in metres and others in centimetres. Choose one type of units and convert everything into those units.

Example A clothing retailer needs to order at least200 jackets to satisfy demand over the next sales period. He stocks two types of jacket which cost him 10 pounds and 30 pounds to purchase. He sells them at 20 pounds and 50 pounds respectively. He has 2700 pounds to spend on jackets. The cheaper jackets are bulky and each need 20cm of hanging space. The expensive jackets need only 10 cm each. He has 40m of hanging space. Formulation as a linear program The decision is about how many of two types of jacket need to be ordered. Let x = no. of cheaper jackets ordered Let y = no. of expensive jackets ordered The profit, P, given by selling all of these, is P = 10x+ 20y, since the profit made on a cheaper jacket is 10 pounds and the profit made on an expensive one is 20 pounds. The constraints are 1. "needs to order at least 200" giving x + y 200 2. "cost him 10 pounds and 20 pounds" and "has 2700 pounds to spend" giving 10 x + 30 y 2700 3. "20cm of hanging space" and "10cm" and "has 40m of hanging space" giving 0.2 x + 0.1 y 40

the Further Mathematics network Solution Drawing the line representing a constraint. As an example, take the constraint 0.2 x + 0.1 y 40 from the example over the page. The initial aim is to draw the line 0.2 x + 0.1 y = 40 . We know this is a straight line so it's enough to find two points on the line and join them. When x = 0, y = 400 and when y = 0, x = 200. So the points (0, 400) and (200, 0) are on the line. Then shade out the unacceptable region. To find the unacceptable region just test appoint out to see if it satisfies the constraint or not. For example in this case, (10, 10) clearly satisfies the constraint and so is in the acceptable region.
y 350

50 50 350 x

The feasible region Once you have drawn all the constraints, the feasible region is the intersection of the acceptable regions for all of them.
y 350

50 50 350 x

Feasible Region

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Finding the solution The solution of the problem will be at one of the vertices of the feasible region. You will need to solve simultaneous equations to find the coordinates of these vertices. Then each vertex must be checked to find the best. For example, in the above we have a feasible region as in the diagram below. The coordinates of point A are found by solving x + y = 200 and 10 x + 30 y = 2700 simultaneously. The solutions are x = 165 and y = 35. So the point is (165, 35) and the profit at that point is P = 10x+ 20y = 1650 + 700 = 2350.

A (165, 35) => P = 2350 B (186, 28) => P = 2420 C (200, 0) => P = 200 So B is the optimal point. Produce 186 cheap jackets and 28 expensive ones.

Integer Programming If th solution to a problem has to have integer values, then points with integer value coordinates close to the optimal point should be checked. This is likely to reveal the optimal integer solution but is not guaranteed to. You should be careful to check that suck points actually are in the feasible region. Do this by substituting their coordinates into the constraints.

More Questions
1. A builder can build either luxury houses or standard houses on a plot of land. Planning regulations prevent the builder from building more than 30 houses altogether, and he wants to build at least 5 luxury houses and at least 10 standard houses. Each luxury house requires 300 m2 of land, and each standard house requires 10 m2 of land. The total Area of the plot is 6500 m2.

the Further Mathematics network

2. A company manufactures two types of container, each requiring the same amount of material. The first type of container requires 4 seconds on a cutting machine and 3 seconds on a sewing machine. The second type of container requires 2 seconds on the cutting machine and 7 seconds on the sewing machine. Each machine is available for 1 hour. Thre first type of container gives a profit of 40p. The second type gives a profit of 30p. How many of each type should be made to maximize profit? 3. A car parl with total usable area 300 m2 is to have spaces marked out for small cars and large cars. A small car space has area 10 m2 and a large car space has area 12 m2. The ratio of small cars to large cars parked at any one time is estimated to be between 2:3 and 2:1. Find the number if spaces if each type that should be provided so as to maximise the number of cars that can be parked.

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