11.

LINEAR PROGRAMMING PROBLEMS

A Linear programming problem (LPP) deals with the optimization (maximization or minimization) of a
function of variables known as objective functions, subjected to set of linear inequalities called
constraints (restrictions).

Definitions of various terms involved in linear programming problem:

1. Objective function: In a linear programming problem, Z  ax  by (where a and b are

constants) the linear function of the variables x and y which is to be optimized (maximized
or minimized) is called objective function.

Objective function is of the form:

Maximize or Minimize Z  a1 x1  a2 x2  .............  an xn .

Where, a1 , a2 ,............., an are constants and x1 , x 2 ,............., x n are variables.

2. Decision variables: Decision variables are the variables which represents quantities to be
determined and they are usually denoted by x1 , x 2 ,............., x n .

3. Constraints: The limitations on resources which are to be allocated among various competing
variables are in the form of linear equations or in equations (inequalities) and are called
constraints (restrictions). (Or)

The linear inequalities or equations or restrictions on the variables of a linear programming

problem are called constraints.

Constraints are of the form:

a11 x1  a12 x2  a13 x3  .........  a1n xn  or  or  b1

a21 x1  a22 x2  a23 x3  .........  a2 n xn  or  or  b2
:
:
am1 x1  am 2 x2  am3 x3  .........  amn xn  or  or  bm

4. Non-negativity restrictions: All decision variables must assume non-negative values, as

negative values of physical quantities are impossible situations.

i.e., x1  0, x 2  0,............., x n  0 .

5. Optimization problem: A problem which seeks to maximize or minimize a linear function subjected
to constraints as determined by a set of linear inequalities is called an Optimization problem.

General formulation of linear programming problem:

The general formulation of the LPP to find the value of ' n ' decision variables
x1 , x 2 ,............., x n to maximize or minimize the objective function is given by

Maximize or Minimize Z  a1 x1  a2 x2  .............  an xn .

Subjected to constraints

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 a11 x1  a12 x2  a13 x3  .........  a1n xn  or  or  b1
a21 x1  a22 x2  a23 x3  .........  a2 n xn  or  or  b2
:
:
am1 x1  am 2 x2  am3 x3  .........  amn xn  or  or  bm

and x1  0, x2  0, x3  0, ......... xn  0 .

Formulation of linear programming problem (LPP):

The formulation of linear programming problem involves the following steps:

Step 1: Identify the decision variables to be determined and express them using the symbols
x1 , x 2 ,............., x n

Step 2: Identify all the limitations in the given problem and express them as linear inequalities in
terms of above defined decision variables.

Step 3: Identify the objective which is to be optimized (maximized or minimized) and express it as a
linear function of the above defined decision variable.

Step 4: For non-negativity of decision variables choose x1  0, x 2  0,............., x n  0 .

Graphical method of solving linear programming problems:

Simple LPP of two decision variables can easily solved by Graphical method.

The steps involved in Graphical method to solve LPP are as follows:

Step 1: Consider each inequality constraints as equations.

Step 2: Plot each equations on the graph as each will geometrically represent a straight line.

Step 3: Mark the feasible region:

a) If the inequality constraint corresponding to that line is '  ' then the region below
the line lying in the first quadrant is shaded.

b) If the inequality constraint corresponding to that line is '  ' then the region above
the line lying in the first quadrant is shaded.

The points lying in common region thus obtained is called the feasible region.

Step 4: Mark the corner points and find them.

Step 5: Find the maximum or minimum value of Z by substituting the corner points into objective
function corresponding to the decision variables.

Note:

1. The common region determined by all the constraints including non-negative constraints of a
LPP is called the feasible region (solution region).

2. The feasible region consisting of infinitely many points which satisfies all the constraints is
called feasible solutions.

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3. Each point in the feasible region is called feasible choice.

4. Any point outside the feasible region is called infeasible solution.

5. Any point in the feasible region that gives the optimal value (maximum or minimum) of the
objective function is called optimal solution.

6. A feasible region of the system of linear inequalities is said to be bounded then the objective
function Z has both maximum and a minimum value.

7. A feasible region of the system of linear inequalities is said to be unbounded then the
objective function Z has either a maximum or a minimum or no value.

Graphical Solution of LPP: Worked examples [Assignment]

1. A company owned by shree group produces two products P and Q. Each

P requires 4 hours of grinding and 2 hours of polishing and each Q requires
2 hours of grinding and 5 hours of polishing. The total available hours for
grinding is 20 and for polishing is 24. Profit per unit of P is Rs. 6 and that
of Q is Rs. 8. Formulate LPP and solve graphically.

2. A diet for Sahana must contain at least 4000 units of vitamins, 50 units of
minerals and 1400 calories. Two foods A and B available at a cost of Rs. 5
and Rs. 4 per unit respectively. If one unit of A contains 200 units of
vitamin, 1 unit of mineral and 40 calories and one unit of B contains 100
units of vitamin, 2 unit of mineral and 40 calories, find by graphical
method what combination of foods be used to have least cost.

3. Solve the following LPP graphically:

Max Z   x  2 y , Subject to the constraints, x  3 , x  y  5, x  2 y  6 and
x  0, y  0 .

4. Solve the following LPP graphically:

Max Z  x  y , Subject to the constraints, 2x  y  1  0 , x  y  3, x  2 and
x  0, y  0

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5. Varsha electric appliances company produces two items, Refrigerator and
ranges. Production takes place in two separate departments. Refrigerator
are produced in department I and ranges in department II. The company’s
two products are produced and sold on a weekly basis. The weekly
production cannot exceed 25 refrigerators in department I and 35 ranges
in department II, because of limited available facilities in these two
departments. The company regularly employs a total of 60 workers in the
two departments. A refrigerator requires 2 man-week of labour, while a
range requires 1 man-week of labour. A refrigerator contributes a profit
of Rs. 60 and a range contributes a profit of Rs. 40. How many units of
refrigerators and ranges should the company produce to realise
maximum profit?

6. A firm owned by Vaidhyanathan plans to purchase at least 200 quintals

of scrap containing high quality metal X and low quality metal Y. It decides
that the scrap be purchased must contain at least 100 quintals of X and
not more than 35 quintals of Y. The firm can purchase the scrap from two
supplies A and B in unlimited quantities. The percentage of X and Y in
terms of weight is the scraps supplied by A and B is given below:
Metals Supplier A Supplier B
X 25% 75%
Y 10% 20%
The price of A’s scrap is Rs. 200 per quintal and that of B’s is Rs. 400 per
quintal. Formulate this problem as a LPP and solve to determine the
quantities to be bought from the two suppliers to minimize the total
purchase cost.
7. A co-operative society of farmers presided by Lalith has 50 hectare of land
to grow two crops X and Y. The profits from crop X and Y per hectare are
estimated as Rs. 10,500 and Rs. 9,000 respectively. To control weeds a
liquid herbicide has to be used for crops X and Y at the rate of 20 litres
and 10 litres per hectare. Further not more than 800 litres of herbicide
should be used in order to protect fish and wild life using a pond which
collects, drainage from this land. How much land should be allocated to
each crop so as to maximise the total profit of the society? Also find the
maximum profit.

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8. Arjun wants to invest at most Rs. 12,000 in Bonds A and B. According to
the rule, he has to invest at least Rs. 2000 in Bond A and at least Rs. 4000
in Bond B. If the rates of interest on Bonds A and B respectively are 8%
and 10% per annum formulate the problem as LPP and solve graphically
for maximum interest.

Exercise 11.2 [Class work problems]

1. Maximise Z  60x  15 y subject to constraints x  y  50, 3x  y  90 and
x  0, y  0 . Solve LPP using Graphical method.
2. Maximise Z  5x  3 y subject to constraints 3x  5 y  15, 5x  2 y  10 and
x  0, y  0 . Solve LPP using Graphical method.
3. Minimise Z  3x  5 y subject to constraints x  3 y  3, x  y  2 and
x  0, y  0 . Solve LPP using Graphical method.
4. Minimise Z  x  7 y  190 subject to constraints x  y  8, x  5, y  5,
x  y  4 and x  0, y  0 . Solve LPP using Graphical method.

5. Kellogg is a new cereal formed from a mixture of bran and rice that
contains at least 88gm of protein and at least 36 milligram of iron per kg.
knowing that bran contains 80 gm of protein and 40 milligram of iron per
kg and that rice contains 100gm of protein and 30 milligram of iron per
kg, find the minimum cost of producing this new cereal if bran cost Rs. 5
per kg and rice cost Rs. 4 per kg.

6. A firm owned by Abhirami has to transport 1200 packages using large vans
which can carry 200 packages each and small vans can take 80 packages
each. The cost for engaging each large van is Rs. 400 and each small van
is Rs. 200. Not more than Rs. 3000 is to be spent on the job and the
number of large vans cannot exceed the number of small vans. Solve this
LPP graphically to find the minimum cost.

7. There are two types of fertilizers F1 and F2. F1 consists of 10% nitrogen and
6% phosphoric acid and F2 consists of 5% of nitrogen and 10% phosphoric
acid. After testing the soil conditions, a farmer Vaidhya finds that he needs
at least 14 kg of nitrogen and 14 kg of phosphoric acid for the crop. If F 1
costs Rs. 6 per kg and F2 costs Rs. 5 per kg, determine how much of each
type of fertilizer should be used so that nutrient requirements are met at
a minimum cost. Solve graphically.

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8. A Television company owned by Priyanka and Bhavana operates two
assembly lines, line I and line II. Each of line is used to assemble the
components of three types of television: colour standard and economy.
The expected daily production on each line is as follows:
TV Model Line I Line II
Colour 3 1
Standard 1 1
Economy 2 6
The daily running cost for two lines is Rs. 6000 for line I and Rs. 4000 for
line II. It is given that company must produce at least 24 colour, 16
standard and 48 economy TV sets for which an order is pending.
Formulate LPP and solve graphically the number of days the two lines
should be run to meet the requirements.
9. A company owned by Vishwa Narayana concentrates on two grades of
paper A and B, produced on a paper machine. Because of raw materials
restrictions, not more than 400 tonnes of grade A and 300 tonnes of grade
B can be produced in a week. There are 160 production hours in a week.
It requires 0.2 hour and 0.4 hour to produce one tonne of products A and
B respectively with corresponding profits of Rs. 20 and Rs. 50 per tonne.
Find the optimum product mix using the graphical method.

10. A company owned by Navya manufactures two types of cloth, using three
different colours of wool. One yard length of type A cloth required 4 oz
(ounce) of red wool, 5 oz of green wool, 3 oz of yellow wool. One yard
length of type B cloth required 5 oz (ounce) of red wool, 2 oz of green
wool, 8 oz of yellow wool. The wool available for manufactures is 1000 oz
of red wool 1000 oz of green wool and 1200 oz of yellow wool. The
manufactures can make a profit of Rs. 5 on one yard of type A cloth and
Rs. 3 on one yard of type B cloth. Find the best combination of the
quantities of type A and type B cloth which gives him maximum profit by
solving the LPP by graphical method.