Week 2-3: Tutorial Questions - Topic:

Linear Programming Problems ( Solution

Guide ) *

April 8, 2022

Part I
Using the following system of inequalities as constraints:


 x + 2y ≤ 40

2x + y ≤ 40


 x+y ≥ 10
x ≥ 0, y≥0


to solve the following objective functions. For each objective equation, use
the same constraints as above to:

1. max z = x + y (solution: x = y = 13 13 , and z = 26 23 )

2. max z = 2x + 3y (solution: x = y = 13 13 , and z = 66 23 )
3. min z = 3x + 2y (solution: x = 0, y = 10,and z = 20)
4. min z = 2x + y (solution: x = 0, y = 10,and z = 10)
5. max z = 5x + 2y (solution: x = 20, y = 0,and z = 100)

Part II
1. A company sells two dierent products A and B. The company makes
a prot of $40 and $30 per unit on the product, respectively. The two
products are produced by a common production process and are sold in
two dierent markets. The production process has a capacity of 30, 000
man-hours. It takes 3 hours to produce one unit of A and 1 hour to pro-
duce one unit of B. The market has been surveyed and it was found out

* Prepared by: Course Coordinator Dr. Ronald R. Kumar - Semester 1, 2022-FM101

- The University of the South Pacic

1
 that the maximum units sold for product A and B are 8, 000 and 12, 000
units, respectively. How many units of each product must be produced in
order to maximize prot.

Solution: Let x= product A, and y= product B. Dene Π = 40x + 30y

as your objective equation.

Product x=A y=B Total

Π 40 30
Hours 3 1 ≤ 30000
Maximun sold 8000 12000

The LPP is to:

max Π = 40x + 30y


3x + y
 ≤ 30000

x ≤ 8000
subject to:
y

 ≤ 12000
x ≥ 0, y≥0


Solving this LPP should give us: x = 6000, y = 12000, and max Π =
$600, 000
(Also see Slides 10-12, Example 4 in the Powerpoint slide )

2. An investment broker wants to invest up to $20, 000. She can purchase

a type A bond yielding a 10 return on the amount invested, and she can
purchase a type B bond yielding a 15% return on the amount invested.
She wanted to invest at least as much in type A bond as in the type B
bond. She will also invest at least $5, 000 in type A bond and no more
than $8, 000 in type B bond. How much should she invest in each type of
bond to maximize her return?

Solution: Let x= amount invested in Type A bond, and y = amount

invested in Type B bond. Dene return, R = 0.10x + 0.15y . The con-
straints are:
Eq1: invest up to $20, 000 ⇒x + y ≤ 20000
Eq2: invest at least as much in type A bond as in the type B bond ⇒
x≥y
Eq3: invest at least $5, 000 in type A bond ⇒ x ≥ 5000
Eq4: no more than $8, 000 in type B bond ⇒ y ≤ 8000
and we must have x ≥ 0, y ≥ 0. Hence, the LPP is:

Prepared by: Course Coordinator Dr. Ronald R. Kumar - Semester 1, 2022-FM101 -

The University of the South Pacic
 max R = 0.10x + 0.15y



x+y ≤ 20000
x ≥y



subject to: x ≥ 5000

y ≤ 8000




x ≥ 0, y≥0

Solving this LPP should give us: x = 12000, y = 8000, and R = 2400.
Therefore, broker should invest $12, 000 in type A bond and $8, 000 in
type B bond, to realize a maximum prot of $2400. See Example 5,
Powerpoint Lecture slide 13-15 on Moodle .

3. There are two chemical plants at the Fertilizer Company that produces
three types of fertilizer, low phosphorous (LP), a medium phosphorous
(MP), and high phosphorous (HP). At each plant, the fertilizer is pro-
duced in a single production run, so the three types are produced in xed
proportions. The rst plant produces 1 ton of LP, 2 tons of MP, and 3
tons of HP in a single operation, and charges $600 for what is produced
in one operation, whereas the second plant produces 1 ton of LP, 5 tons
of MP, and 1 ton of HP, and it charges $1000 for what it produces in
one operation. If a customer needs 100 tons of LP, 260 tons of MP, and
180 tons of HP, how many production runs should be ordered from each
plant to minimize costs? (Hint : Customer demand or needs implies the
minimum tons required by the customer)

Solution: Dene Cost: C(x, y) = 600x + 800y,where x =production run

from Plant 1, and y= production run from plant 2. Note that customer
demand implies customers minimum order

Type of fertlizer Production run in Plant 1(= x) Production run in Plant 2(= y) Customer demand (≤)
LP 1 1 100
MP 2 5 260
HP 3 1 180
Cost $600 $1000

Eq1: LP. x + y ≥ 100

Eq2: MP. 2x + 5y ≥ 260
Eq3: HP. 3x + y ≥ 180, and x ≥ 0,and y ≥ 0.

min C(x, y) = 600x + 800y



x+y ≥ 100

2x + 5y ≥ 260
subject to:


3x + y ≥ 180
x ≥ 0, y≥0


Prepared by: Course Coordinator Dr. Ronald R. Kumar - Semester 1, 2022-FM101 -

The University of the South Pacic
 Solving this LPP should give us: x = 80, y = 20,and C(80, 20) = 64000.
This means that Plants 1 and 2 should have 80 and 20 production runs,
respectively, in order to attain the minimum cost which is $64, 000. See
Example 6, Powerpoint Lecture slides 17-18 on Moodle.

4. A calculator company produces scientic and graphing calculators. Long-

term projections indicate an expected demand of at least 100 scientic
and 80 graphing calculators each day. Because of limitations on produc-
tion capacity, no more than 200 scientic and 170 graphing calculators
can be made daily. To satisfy a shipping contract, a total of at least 200
calculators must be shipped each day. If each scientic calculator sold
results in a $2 loss, but each graphing calculator produces a $5 prot, how
many of each type should be made daily to maximize net prots?

Solution: Let x = the number of scientic calculator, and y = num-

ber of graphical calculator.
Constraints:
- expected demand of at least 100 scientic and 80 graphing calculators
each day x ≥ 100 and y ≥ 80
- no more than 200 scientic and 170 graphing calculators can be made
daily ⇒x ≤ 200,y ≤ 170
- a total of at least 200 calculators must be shipped each day ⇒ x + y ≥
200
- and x ≥ 0,y ≥ 0.
Dene prot equation as: Π(x, y) = −2x + 5y since scientic calculator is
sold as a loss of $2, and graphing calculator is sold at a prot of $5. Then,
we need to solve the following LPP:

max Π(x, y) = −2x + 5y



x ≥ 100

y ≥ 80





x ≤ 200
subject to:
y

 ≤ 170
x+y ≥ 200





x ≥ 0, y≥0


Solving this LPP should give us: x = 100, y = 170,and Π(100, 170) = 650.
Hence, 100 scientic calculator and 170 graphical calulator should be pro-
duced to maximize prot. The maximum prot is: $650.. See Example 7,
Powerpoint Lecture slides 20-22 on Moodle.

5. A farmer has 70 acres of land available on which to grow some soybeans

and some corn. The cost of cultivation per acre, the workdays needed per

Prepared by: Course Coordinator Dr. Ronald R. Kumar - Semester 1, 2022-FM101 -

The University of the South Pacic
 acre, and the prot per acre are indicated in the table:

Soybean Corn Total

Cultivation per acre $60 $30 $1800
Days of work per acre 3 days 4 days 120 days
Prot per acre $300 $150
As indicated in the last column, the acreage to be cultivated is limited by the
amount of money available for cultivation costs, and by the number of working
days. Find the number of acres of each crop that should be planted in order to
maximize the prot.

Solution: Let x = acres of soybean, and y = acres of corn. Dene prot

as: Π(x, y) = 300x + 150y. The constraints are:
- farmer has 70 acres of land available on which to grow some soybeans and
some corn ⇒x + y ≤ 70
- acreage to be cultivated is limited by the amount of money available for
cultivation costs, and by the number of working days ⇒ 60x + 30y ≤ 1800 and
3x + 4y ≤ 120. Also, x ≥ 0,and y ≥ 0. Hence, the LPP to solve is:

max Π(x, y) = 300x + 150y



 x+y ≤ 70

60x + 30y ≤ 1800
subject to:
3x + 4y

 ≤ 120
x ≥ 0, y≥0


max Π(x, y) = 300x + 150y



 x+y ≤ 70

60x + 30y ≤ 1800
subject to:


 3x + 4y ≤ 120
x ≥ 0, y≥0


Solving this LPP should give us: x = 24, y = 12,and Π(24, 12) = 9000. Hence,
24 acres of soybean and 12 acres corn should be produced to maximize prot.
The maximum prot is: $9000. However, the is only one solution. Note that
the corner points (30, 0) also provides optimal solution. This means we have
if two corner points are both optimal so-
multiple solutions. In general,
lutions to a linear programming problem, then any point on the line
segment joining them is also an optimal solution. We note that this the
case when we consider th line: 60x + 30y = 1800.
Thus, any points on the line 60x + 30y = 1800, where 24 ≤ x ≤ 30 would
1800−60(25)
be an optimal solution. For example: take x = 25 , then y = = 10.
30
Therefore, (25, 10) is also a solution. Note take another value, say x = 29 then

y = 1800−60(29)
30 = 2,hence (29, 2) is also an optimum solution. This means we

Prepared by: Course Coordinator Dr. Ronald R. Kumar - Semester 1, 2022-FM101 -

The University of the South Pacic
have multiple solutions, and in this case, our solution is in the range: 24 ≤ x ≤
30 (with corresponding values of y ), yielding a maximum of $9000.

Prepared by: Course Coordinator Dr. Ronald R. Kumar - Semester 1, 2022-FM101 -

The University of the South Pacic