INEQUALITIES AND REGIONS

Summary:

1. The following symbols are used when dealing with inequalities <, , > and 

2. The inequality symbol reverses when you multiply or divide an inequality by a

negative number

3. To represent an inequality on a number line, use an open circle for < or >
symbol and in case of  or , use a closed circle.

4. Integers in the range of a given inequality are called integral values

5. The inequality 2 > x is the same as x < 2 and 4 < x is the same as x > 4.

EXAMPLES:

1. Represent each of the following inequalities on a number line:

(i) x  2 (ii) x > 3 (iii) x  2 (iv) x < 4 (v) 1  x  5

(vi) 2 < x < 3 (vii) 1 < x  4 (viii) 3  x < 2

2. Given that P ={ x : −3 ≤ x < 4 } and Q ={ x : −2 < x ≤ 6 } , represent P n Q on a

number line. State P n Q

3. Solve the following inequalities and represent each solution on a number line:

(i) 5x + 7 < 3(x + 1) (ii) 7(2  x) + 1  2(2x  9) (iii) 5x + 3 > 11  2x

3 − 5x > 8 + x x x
+ 3 ≥ 1+
(iv) 3(x  1) + 2(x  1)  7x + 7 (v) 2 3 2 (vi) 4 2

3x − 2 ( 1 − 2x ) < 5
(vii) 2 3 (ix) 7  4  3x > 5 (x) 2x  4  4 > 3x  5

4. Using a number line, find the integral values of x which satisfy the sets:

{ 5 − 3 x >−7 } n { x − 6 ≤ 3 x− 4 }

1
5. Find all the integral values of x which satisfy the inequalities:
5x + 7 ≤ 3x + 5 < x + 11
4 2 3

6. Find the positive integral values of x which satisfy the inequalities:

x
− 3 ≤ x + 2 ≤ 21 − 2 x
4

7. Find the greatest integral value of x which satisfies the inequality:

3x
2 − >¿ x + 3 ¿
2

8. Given that 1 < x < 4,find the values of a and b for which a  2x + 3 < b

EER:
x x
+ 5 ≥ 1+
1. Solve the inequality: 4 2

2. Solve the inequality: 10x − 3( 2x − 1)≥ 8x + 15

2 x −3 x
≥ − 1
3. Solve the inequality: 5 2

4. Solve the inequality: 3(x  2) + 4  2(2x  3)

5. Solve the inequality: 6  2(x  5) < 4

3
−3 < (2 − x) ≤ 5
6. Solve the inequality: 2

7. Using a number line, find the integral values of x which satisfy the sets:

{3 x > 2 x + 5 } n {3 x < 32− x }

1 − x > −5
8. Solve the inequality: 2 6 2

9. Find the range of values of x which satisfy the inequalities:

x  4  3x + 2 < 2(x + 5)

2
10. Given that P ={ x : −4 ≤ x ≤ 2 } and Q ={ x : −2 < x < 5 } , represent P n Q on
a number line. State P n Q
3 − 5x > 8 + x
11. Solve the inequality: 2 3 2

12. Find all the integral values of x which satisfy the inequalities:
2x + 3  5x  3 > 8

13. Find all the integral values of x which satisfy the inequalities:
2x  4  4 > 3x  5

GRAPHING LINEAR INEQUALITIES

Summary:

1. In shading out the unwanted region, we proceed as follows:

(i) Make y the subject in the given inequality equation

(ii) Rewrite the equation in the form y = mx + c

(iii) Draw a solid line if the inequality is  or  and in case the inequality is
< or >, draw a dotted line

(iv) If the inequality in (i) above is > or  , the wanted region is above the line and
If the inequality is < or  , the wanted region is below the line. Thus we shade out
the unwanted region

2. The points (x, y) within and on the boundary of the wanted region are called an
integral solution (x and y are integers)

3. The maximum or minimum value of any function in the wanted region occurs at
one of its vertices

EXAMPLES:

1. Given that P ={( x, y ): 2x − 3y ≤ 6 } and Q ={( x, y ): x + y < 0 } , by shading

the unwanted region, show the region representing P n Q

3
2. (i) By shading the unwanted region, show the region representing

{( x, y ): y ≥ 6 −x n y − x > 0 n y ≤ 7 }
(ii) Find the integral solution of the inequalities

(iii) Calculate the area of the wanted region

3. (i) By shading the unwanted region, show the region which satisfies the

inequalities: 3x + 4y < 12, y  0 and x  0

(ii) Find the integral solution of the inequalities

(ii) Calculate the area of the wanted region

4. The feasible region of a linear inequality problem is represented by:

2 ≤ x ≤ 6, 1 ≤ y ≤ 5 ≤ 6 and x + y≤ 8

(i) Draw the feasible region that represents this problem

(ii) Find the maximum value of the function f(x, y) = 3x + 2y on the feasible region
(iii) Calculate the area of the feasible region

5. (i) Find the inequalities satisfied by the unshaded region below:

yaxis

xaxis
0 1 6

(ii) Calculate the area of the unshaded region

4
6. (i) By shading the unwanted regions, show clearly the region R which

satisfies the inequalities: y  x < 2, 2y + 5x  25 and 6y + x  5

(ii) Given that P(x, y) = 50x + 40y, determine the maximum and minimum

values of P in the region R.

(iii) Determine the area of the unshaded region R

2
7. By shading the unwanted region, show the region representing y > ¿ x ¿for
2  x  2
2
8. By shading the unwanted region, show the region representing y > ¿ x − 1 ¿for
2  x  2

EER:

1. By shading the unwanted region, show the region which satisfies the inequality
3x + 4y < 12

2. (i) By shading the unwanted region, show the region representing

{( x, y ): y ≥ x −2 n y + x ≤ 14 n y ≤ 7x − 26 }
(ii) Calculate the area of the wanted region

3. Find the inequality that satisfies the unshaded region below:

yaxis

xaxis
0 4

5
4. (i) By shading the unwanted region, show the region which satisfies the

inequalities: y ≤ x + 2, 1 ≤ x ≤ 4 and y  1

(ii) Calculate the area of the wanted region

5. Find the minimum and maximum values of the function f(x, y) = 40x + 15y,
subject to the following constraints:

5 x + 4y > 40, x ≥ 2y, 8 x + 3y ≤ 90 and y ≥ 0

Ans: min = 285 occurs at (5, 5), max = 445 occurs at (10, 3), 
6. (i) By shading the unwanted region, show the region which satisfies the

inequalities: x  4, 2y + x  4 and 4y  3x  8

(ii) Find the integral solution of the inequalities

(iii) Find the maximum and minimum values of P = x + y in the wanted region.

7. Find the inequalities satisfied by the unshaded region below:

yaxis

xaxis
0 6

8. (i) By shading the unwanted region, show the region representing

{( x, y): y ≥ 1 n y + x ≤ 5 n x ≥ 1}
(ii) Calculate the area of the wanted region

6
 2
9. (i) On the same axes, draw the curve y = 4 −¿ x ¿for 2  x  2 and the line y = 1
2
y ≤ 4 −¿ x ¿
(ii) By shading the unwanted region, show the region represented by

and y  1

(iii) State the integral coordinates of the points which lie in the region

{y≥ 1 n y ≤4−x
2
}
QUADRATIC INEQUALITIES

Summary:

1. Solving a quadratic inequality is the same as find the range of xvalues where
the graph in the equation will be above or below the xaxis

2. The following steps apply when solving a quadratic inequality:

(i) Replace the original inequality with a quadratic equation

(ii) Solve the equation to get the endpoints of the three different intervals

(iii) Plot the solution on a number line to identify the intervals for investigation

(iv) Pick a number from each interval and work out the sign for each interval

(v) The symbol in the inequality determines the required range. In any interval the
graph is either above or below the xaxis

EXAMPLES:
2
1. Find the range of x for which x + x − 12 ≤ 0

Soln:
2
At the endpoints, x + x − 12 = 0

7
 −1 ±√ 1 + 48
⇒ x=
2
∴ x = −4 or 3
Testing for negativity (negative sign)

+ +
4 3
Required range = 4  x  3

NOTE: The final answer must have the symbol used in the original inequality

2
2. Solve for x in the inequality: x − x− 6 > 0

Soln:
2
At the endpoints, x +− x− 6 = 0

1± √ 1 + 24
⇒ x=
2
∴ x = −2 or 3
Testing for positivity

+ +
2 3
Required range = x < 2 or x > 3

2
3. Solve for x in the inequality: x − 36 < 0

Soln:
2
At the endpoints, x − 36 = 0

8
⇒ x = ±√ 36
∴ x = −6 or 6
Testing for negativity

+ +
6 6
Required range = 6 < x < 6

EER:
2
1. Solve for x in the inequality: x − 4 x + 3 < 0
2
2. Solve for x in the inequality: x + 2 x − 15 ≥ 0
2
3. Solve for x in the inequality: ( x +2)( x − 4) < x − 6
2 2
4. Solve for x in the inequality: 2x + 4 x ≥ x + 5 x+ 6

2
5. Determine the solution set of the inequality: 4x − 5x − 6 < 0
2
6. Find the integral values of x which satisfy the inequality: 2x + 5x − 3 < 0

LINEAR PROGRAMMING

Summary:

1. Linear programming provides the most productive decision that best fits the
situation. It reveals the best criteria of distributing limited resources to achieve a
desired objective. This objective may be profit maximization or cost minimization

2. In any linear programming problem:

(i) Alternative decisions are compared using an objective function to get the best.
(ii) The objective function takes the form f(x, y) = ax + by and its maximum or
minimum value occurs at one of the vertices of the wanted region (feasible region)
(iii) If two corner points produce the same maximum or minimum value of the
9
objective function, then every point on the line segment joining these points will
also give the same maximum or minimum value
(v) The points within and on the boundary of the feasible region are called feasible
solutions. These points (x, y) are non negative. Thus x  0 and y  0

3. Linear programming problems are solved as follows:

(i) Define the variables x and y
(iv) Write an expression to be maximized or minimized (objective function)
(ii) Find the inequalities including the non negative restrictions x  0 and y  0
(iii) Graph the inequalities and locate the vertices of the feasible region
(v) Substitute values from the vertices into the function and select the greatest or
least result

4. The table below shows inequality symbols used for specific phrases

Symbols Vocabulary
(i) Less than
(ii) Fewer than
(iii) Lower than
< (iv) Smaller than
(v) Shorter than
(vi) Below
(i) Greater than
(ii) More than
(iii) Exceeds
> (iv) Larger than
(v) Longer than
(vi) Above
(i) Less than or equal to
(ii) At most
≤ (iii) Maximum
(iv) Not more than
(v) Not greater than
(vi) Does not exceed
(vii) Not above
(i) Greater than or equal to
(ii) At least
 (iii) Minimum
(iv) Not less than
10
 (v) Not fewer than
(vi) Not below
(vii) Not smaller than

5. When interpreting inequality word problems, identify the inequality symbol that
is appropriate for the situation

EXAMPLES:

1. Write down the following restrictions in terms of algebraic inequalities

(i) There must be at least thrice as many x as y
(ii) There must be at most 4 times as many x as y
(iii) At least twofifth of (x + y) should be x
(iv) The value of x lies between 4 and 7
(v) The value of x lies between 4 and 7 inclusive
(vi) The value of x is at least 3 but not more than 6
(vii) The value of x is at least 3 but less than 6

Soln

x : y ≥¿ 3 : 1 ⇒ x ≥ 3 ⇒ x ≥ 3y ¿
(i) y 1

x : y ≤¿ 4 : 1 ⇒ x ≤ 4 ⇒ x ≤ 4y ¿
(ii) y 1

x ≥¿ 2 ( x + y ) ⇒ 3x ≥ 2y ¿
(iii) 5

2. A furniture company has Shs 120,000 to invest in making tables and chairs. It
costs Shs 20,000 to make each table and Shs 12,000 to make each chair. The
company has a storage space of at least 8 items altogether. Each table yields a
profit of Shs 80,000 and each chair a profit of Shs 45,000.

(i) Write down four inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Plot these inequalities on the same axes and shade out the unwanted regions

(iii) List the possible combination of tables and chairs the company can make

11
(iv) Find how many tables and chairs should be made so as to maximize profit and
calculate this maximum profit

Soln

(i) If x = No of tables made and y = No of chairs made

20,000x + 12,000y ≤ 120,000  5x + 3y ≤ 30 - - - - - - (i)

x + y  8 - - - - - - (ii) x  0 - - - - - - (iii) y  0 - - - - - - (iv)

(iii) Feasible solution: (0,8), (0,9), (0,10), (1, 7), (1, 8), (2, 6) and (3, 5)

(iv) Profit function: f(x, y) = 80,000x + 45,000y “Objective function”

(x, y) (0, 8) (0, 10) (3, 5)

f(x, y) 360,000 450,000 465,000
 Max profit is Shs 465,000, this includes 3 tables and 5 chairs
3. A student has 52 minutes to do a test containing 10 short questions and 5 essay
questions. Each short question carries 4 marks and takes 2 minutes to be
answered. Each essay question carries 12 marks and takes 8 minutes to be
answered. The student knows all the answers to get full marks on the questions he
attempts.

(i) Write down five inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Draw the feasible region that represents this problem

(iii) Find how many questions of each type the student should attempt so as to gain
maximum marks and find this maximum mark the student can score

Soln

(i) If x = No of attempted short questions and y = No of attempted essay questions

x ≤ 10 - - - - - - (i) y ≤ 5 - - - - - - (ii)

2x + 8y ≤ 52  x + 4y ≤ 26 - - - - - - (iii)

12
 x  0 - - - - - - (iv) y  0 - - - - - - (v)

(iii) Score function: f(x, y) = 4x + 12y “Objective function”

(x, y) (0, 0) (0, 5) (6, 5) (10, 0) (10, 4)

f(x, y) 0 60 84 40 88
 Max score is 88, this includes 10 short and 4 essay questions

2 2
4. The area of a parking lot is 360m . Each van requires 24m of space to park
2
and each bus requires 48m . Not more than 12 vehicles are allowed to park at a
time. Also there must be at least as many vans as buses. If the parking charge for
a van is $15 and for a bus is $35,

(i) Write down five inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Draw the feasible region that represents this problem

(iii) Find how many vehicles of each type that should be parked so as to obtain
maximum income and find this maximum income

(iv) If the new charge structure for a van is $2 and for a bus is $35, find how many
vehicles of each type that should be parked now so as to obtain maximum income
and find this maximum income

Soln

(i) If x = No of parked vans and y = No of parked buses

24x + 48y  360  x + 2y ≤ 15 - - - - - - (i) x + y ≤ 12 - - - - - - (ii)

x : y ≥¿ 1 : 1 ⇒ x ≥ 1 ⇒ x ≥ y- - -(iii ) ¿
y 1 x  0 - - - (iv) y  0 - - - (v)

(iii) Income function: f(x, y) = 15x + 35y “Objective function”

13
 (x, y) (0, 0) (12, 0) (9, 3) (5, 5)
f(x, y) 0 18 24 25
 Max income is $25, this includes 5 vans and 5 buses

(iv) New income function: f(x, y) = 2x + 35y “Objective function”

(x, y) (0, 0) (12, 0) (9, 3) (5, 5)

f(x, y) 0 24 285 275
 Max income is $285, this includes 9 vans and 3 buses

5. A carpenter wishes to make tables and chairs. He can make a maximum of 8

tables or a maximum of 6 chairs per week. Each table requires 5 hours to make
and can be sold for a profit of $25. Each chair requires 10 hours to make and can
be sold for a profit of $50. The carpenter only has 70 hours of labour time
available per week.

(i) Write down five inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Plot these inequalities on the same axes and shade out the unwanted regions

(iii) Find all the possible combination of tables and chairs that should be made
each week so as to maximize profit and find this maximum profit

Soln

(i) If x = No of tables made and y = No of chairs made

x ≤ 8 - - - - (i) y ≤ 6 - - - (ii) 5x + 10y ≤ 70  x + 2y ≤ 14 - - - (iii)

x  0 - - - - - - (iv) y  0 - - - - - - (v)

(iv) Profit function: f(x, y) = 25x + 50y “Objective function”

(x, y) (0, 0) (0, 6) (8, 0) (8, 3) (2, 6)

f(x, y) 0 300 200 350 350

14
Since the maximum value is at two vertices, then the optimal solution is on the line
segment joining them

 Max profit is $350, this includes (2,6), (4,5), (6,4) and (8, 3)

6. A school wishes to use buses and coasters to transport at least 336 students.
Each bus can carry 56 students at a cost of Shs 50,000. Each coaster can carry 28
students at a cost of Shs 25,000. The school has 10 drivers available and must use
at least 4 coasters.
(i) Write down three inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Draw the feasible region that represents this problem

(iii) List the possible combination of buses and coasters that the school can use

(iv) Find all the possible combination of buses and coasters the school should use
so as to minimize the transport cost and find this minimum transport cost

(v) Find how many vehicles of each type the school should use so as to maximize
the number of students transported and find this greatest number of students the
school can transport

(i) If x = No of used buses and y = No of used coasters

56x + 28y  336  2x + y  12 - - - - - - (i)

x + y ≤ 10 - - - - - - (ii) y  4 - - - - - - (iii) x  0 - - - - - - (iv)

(iii) Feasible solution: (2, 8), (3, 6), (3,7) (4, 4), (4, 5), (4,6) (5,4), (5, 5) and (6, 4)

(iv) Cost function: f(x, y) = 50,000x + 25,000y “Objective function”

(x, y) (2, 8) (4, 4) (6, 4)

f(x, y) 300,00 300,000 400,000
0
Since the minimum value is at two vertices, then the optimal solution is on the line
segment joining them

 Min cost is Shs300,000, this includes (2,8), (3, 6) and (4, 4)

15
(v) Function for No of students: f(x, y) = 56x + 28y “Objective function”

(x, y) (2,8) (4,4) (6, 4)

f(x, y) 336 336 448

7. A soccer club is to invite players for a soccer training camp. It costs Shs 15,000
for each senior player and Shs 6,000 for each promoted player. The club only has
Shs 675,000 to invest in the camp. The club needs at least 10 more senior players
that those promoted and a minimum of 20 senior players.

(i) Write down four inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Draw suitable graphs to show the feasible region

(iii) Find how many players of each kind the club should invite so as to
maximize the number of players at the camp and calculate this maximum number

Soln

(i) If x = No of invited senior players and y = No of invited promoted players

15,000x + 6.000y ≤ 675,000  5x + 2y ≤ 225 - - - - - - (i)

x  y  10 - - - - - - (ii) x  20 - - - - - - (iii) y  0 - - - - - - (iv)

(Since x  20, then x can’t be negative thus x  0 is not necessary)

(iii) Function for number of player: f(x, y) = x + y “Objective function”

(x, y) (20, 0) (20, 10) (35, 25) (45, 0)

f(x, y) 20 30 60 45
 Max No of players is 60, this includes 35 seniors and 25 promoted players
8. A factory produces shirts and jackets. At least twice as many shirts as jackets
are needed. It costs Shs 9,000 and takes 15 minutes to produce a shirt. It costs
Shs 4,500 and takes 30 minutes to produce a jacket. The factory operates for
at least 5 hours and only has Shs 450,000 to produce these items per day. If it sells
each shirt for Shs 12,000 and each jacket for Shs 7,000,

(i) Write down five inequalities representing the above information

16
(ii) Plot these inequalities on the same axes and shade out the unwanted regions

(iii) Find how many shirts and jackets should be produced per day in order to
maximize profit and calculate this maximum profit

Soln

(i) If x = No of shirts produced and y = No of jackets produced

x : y ≥¿ 2 : 1 ⇒ x ≥ 2 ⇒ x ≥ 2y - - - - - (i) ¿
y 1

9,000x + 4,500y ≤ 450,000  2x + y ≤ 100 - - - - - - (ii)

15x + 30y  5(60)  x + 2y  20 - - - - - - (iii)

x  0 - - - - - - (iv) y  0 - - - - - - (v)

(iii) Profit of shirt = 12,000  9,000 = 3,000

Profit of jacket = 7,000  4,500 = 2,500

 f(x, y) = 3,000x + 2,500y “Objective function”

(x, y) (10, 5) (20, 0) (50, 0) (40, 20)

f(x, y) 42,500 60,000 150,000 170,000
 Max profit is Shs 170,000, this includes 40 shirts and 20 jackets
9. A farmer plans to plant a garden of palm and pine trees. Each palm tree needs
30 litres of water per day and each pine needs 15 litres per day. The farmer only
has 2,100 litres of water available per day. He needs to plant at least 40, but not
more than 60 pines. He also decides that at least a third of the trees should be
palm. He makes a profit of $70 on each palm and $25 on each pine that he plans.

(i) Write down three inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Plot these inequalities on the same axes and shade out the unwanted regions

17
(iii) Find how many trees of each type the farmer should plant to maximize profits
and calculate this maximum profit

Soln

(i) If x = No of palm trees planted and y = No of pine trees planted

50x + 25y ≤ 4000  2x + y ≤ 160 - - - - - - (i) 40 ≤ y ≤ 60 - - - - - - (ii)

x ≥¿ 1 ( x + y ) ⇒ 2x ≥ y - - - - - (iii ) ¿
3

(iii) Profit function: f(x, y) = 70x + 25y “Objective function”

(x, y)(20, 40) (30, 60) (50, 40) (40, 60)

f(x, y)2,400 3,100 4,500 4,300
 Max profit is Shs 4,500, this includes 50 palm and 40 pine trees

EER:

1. The feasible region of a linear programming problem is represented by:

x + 2y≥ 10, 3 x + 4y ≤ 24 and x ≥ 0

(i) Draw the feasible region that represents this problem

(ii) List down all the possible solutions over the feasible region.
(iii) Show that the minimum value of the function F(x, y) = 25x + 50y occurs at
more than two points and find this minimum value

Ans: (iii) (0, 5), (2, 4) and (4, 3) min value is 250
2. A soccer club manager has Shs 500 million to spend on buying defenders and
forward players. It costs Shs 30 million to buy each defender and Shs 40 million
for a forward player. The manager needs at least 13 players altogether and a
minimum of 6 players of each kind. The wage per week for each defender is Shs 10
million and Shs 20 million for forwards.

18
(i) Write down four inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Plot these inequalities on the same axes and shade out the unwanted regions

(iii) List the possible number of players of each kind that the manager can buy

(iv) Find how many players of each kind the manager should buy so as to
minimize the wage bill and calculate this minimum wage bill

(v) Find how many players of each kind the manager should buy so as to
spend all the money

Ans: (iv) 7 defenders, 6 forwards, least wage bill is Shs 190m (v) x = 6, y = 8

3. A company wishes to transport at least 480 parcels using a lorry and a van. A
lorry can carry 60 parcels at a cost of Shs 45,000 per trip. A van can carry 40
parcels at a cost of Shs 30,000 per trip. There is Shs 600,000 available for
transport. The number of trips made by the lorry should not exceed 12. Those
made by the van should not exceed twice the number of trips made by the lorry.
If x and y are the trips made by the lorry and van respectively,

(i) Write down six inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Draw suitable graphs to show the feasible region

(iii) Find all the possible number of trips made by each vehicle so that the
transport cost is minimized and find this minimum transport cost

Ans: (iii) (8, 0), (4, 6), (6, 3) and least cost is Shs 360,000

19
4. An aeroplane can carry a maximum of 200 passengers. Each executive class
ticket yields a profit of $1000 and each economy class ticket yields $600. The
airline must reserve at least 4 times as many economy class seats as executive
class seats. It must also reserve at least 20 executive class seats. If x and y
represents the number of executive and economy class tickets sold respectively.

(i) Write down three inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Plot these inequalities on the same axes and shade out the unwanted regions

(iii) Find how many tickets of each type that should be sold so as to maximize
profit and find this maximum profit

Ans: (iii) max profit is $136,000, this includes 40 executive and 160 eco tickets
5. The feasible region of a linear programming problem is represented by:

x ≤ 8, y ≤ 6, x + 2y≤ 14, x ≥ 0 and y ≥ 0

(i) Draw the feasible region that represents this problem

(ii) Find all the possible feasible solutions that maximizes the objective function
f(x, y) = 15x + 30y and find this maximum value

Ans: (ii) (2,6), (4,5), (6,4) and (8, 3), max value is 210
2 2
6. The area of a parking lot is 500m . Each bus requires 20m of space to park
2
and each car requires 8m . Not more than 40 vehicles are allowed to park at a
time. If the parking charge for a bus is $12 and that of a car is $8,

(i) Write down four inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Plot these inequalities on the same axes and shade out the unwanted regions

20
(iii) Find how many vehicles of each type that should be parked so as to obtain
maximum income and find this maximum income

Ans: (iii) max income is $380, this includes 15 buses and 25 cars

7. A transport company has 8 lorries of 8tonnes carrying capacity each and 5

lorries of 10tonnes capacity each. There are 12 drivers available. The company
was hired to transport 480 tonnes of cement from the factory to the sales point.
Each 8tonne lorry can make 6 trips a day and each 10tonne can make 4 trips a
day. The cost of using an 8tonne lorry and a 10tonne lorry are Shs 40,000 and
Shs 60,000 respectively.

(i) Show that one of the constraints leads to the inequality 6x + 5y  60

(ii) Write down three further inequalities

(iii) Draw the feasible region that represents this problem

(iv) Find how many 8tonne and 10tonne lorries the company should use so as to
minimize the transport cost and find this minimum transport cost

Ans: (iv) min cost is Shs500,000, with8 lorries of 8tonnes and 3 of 10tonnes
8. Find the minimum and maximum values of the objective function
f(x, y) = 40x + 15y, subject to the following constraints:

5 x + 4y > 40, x ≥ 2y, 8 x + 3y ≤ 90 and y ≥ 0

Ans: min = 285, max = 445

2
9. The area of a music show room is 48m . Each executive class seat requires
2 2
0⋅8m of floor space and each general class seat requires 1⋅2m of floor space.
Each executive class ticket yields a profit of £90 and each general class ticket
yields a profit of £60. At least 15 executive class tickets are needed and at least

21
twofifth of the tickets should be general. If x and y represents the number of
executive and general class tickets sold respectively,

(i) Write down three inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Plot these inequalities on the same axes and shade out the unwanted regions

(iii) Find how many tickets of each type that should be sold so as to maximize
profit and find this maximum profit

Ans: (iii) max profit is £3,900, this includes 30 executive and 20 general tickets

10. A furniture company wishes to make tables and chairs. Each table requires
4 hours of carpentry and 2 hours of varnishing and can be sold for a profit of $70.
Each chair requires 3 hours of carpentry and 1 hour of varnishing and can be sold
for a profit of $50. The company has 240 hours of carpentry time available and
100 hours of varnishing per week.

(i) Write down four inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Draw the feasible region that represents this problem

(iii) Find how many items of each type that should be made each week so as to
maximize profit and calculate this maximum profit

Ans: (iii) max income is $4,100, this includes 30 tables and 40 chairs

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11. A man wishes to mix two food brands P and Q to form a diet rich in vitamins.
Each bag of food P costs $3 and contains 6 units of vitamin A and 5 units of
vitamin B. Each bag of food Q costs $7 and contains 3 units of vitamin A and 10
units of vitamin B. The diet is required to contain at most 24 units of vitamin A and
at least 50 units of vitamin B. If x and y are the number of bags of P and Q to be
mixed respectively,

(i) Write down four inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Plot these inequalities on the same axes and shade out the unwanted regions

(iii) Find how many bag of each brand should be mixed so as to minimize the cost
of the diet and calculate this minimum cost

Ans: (iii) min cost is $34, this includes 2 bags of P and 4 bags of Q 
12. A farmer wishes to mix two fertilizer brands P and Q to enrich his garden with
nutrients. Each bag of brand P costs $20 and contains 25kg of nitrogen and 6kg
of phosphate. Each bag of brand Q costs $50 and contains 5kg of nitrogen and
8 kg of phosphate. The garden needs at least 25kg of nitrogen and at most 48kg of
phosphate. If x and y are the number of bags of P and Q to be mixed respectively,

(i) Write down four inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Plot these inequalities on the same axes and shade out the unwanted regions

(iii) Find how many bag of each brand should be mixed so as to minimize the cost
of the nutrient requirement and calculate this minimum cost

Ans: (iii) min cost is $230, this includes 4 bags of P and 3 bags of Q 
13. The feasible region of a linear programming problem is represented by:

x + y≤ 30, 2 x + y≤ 40, y ≥ 5, x ≥ 4 and 2y ≥ x

23
(a) Draw the feasible region that represents this problem
(b) Find the maximum value of F on the feasible region, in case where:
(i) F = 3x + y
(ii) F = x + 3y Ans: b(i) 56 (ii) 82
14. A farmer has 50 hectares of land to grow maize and beans. Each hectare of
maize yields a profit of $105 and requires 20 litres of herbicides. Each hectare of
beans yields a profit of $90 and requires 10 litres of herbicides. The farmer has
only 800 litres of herbicides available. If x and y are the hectares of land to be
planted with maize and beans respectively,

(i) Write down four inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Plot these inequalities on the same axes and shade out the unwanted regions

(iii) Find how many hectares of land should be allocated to each crop so as to
maximize profit and calculate this maximum profit

Ans: (iii) max profit is $4950, this includes 30 maize hectares and 20 of beans 

15. A farmer wishes to mix two fertilizer brands P and Q to enrich his garden with
nutrients. Each bag of brand P contains 25kg of nitrogen, 1kg of phosphate, 3kg
of potash and 4kg of chlorine. Each bag of brand Q and contains 35kg of
nitrogen, 2kg of phosphate, 15kg of potash and 5kg of chlorine. The garden needs
at least 24kg of phosphate, at least 27kg of potash and at most 78kg of chlorine. If
x and y are the number of bags of P and Q to be mixed respectively,

(i) Write down three inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Plot these inequalities on the same axes and shade out the unwanted regions

24
(iii) Find how many bag of each brand should be mixed so as to minimize the
amount of nitrogen added in the garden and find this minimum amount of nitrogen
added

Ans: (iii) min nitrogen is 45kg, this includes 4 bags of P and 10 bags of Q 

16. In a sugar factory, electrical and manual packing machines are to be used. An
electrical machine packs 300 bags per day and a manual one packs 250 bags per
day. An electrical machine requires 3 workers where as a manual one requires 7.
At least 35 workers need to be used and the number of bags packed per day should
not exceed 3000. If x and y represents the number of electrical and manual
machines used respectively.

(i) Write down four inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Plot these inequalities on the same axes and shade out the unwanted regions

(iii) If the cost of running an electrical machine is Shs 6000 per day and a manual
one is Shs 8000, find how many machines of each type that should be used so as to
minimize the cost per day and calculate this minimum cost

Ans: (iii) (8, 0), (4, 6), (6, 3) and least cost is Shs 360,000
17. The party organizing committee has Shs450,000 available to spend on buying
beer and soda. At least twice as many crates of beer as crates of soda are needed.
Each crate of beer contains 25 bottles and costs Shs40,000. Each crate of soda
contains 20 bottles and costs Shs15,000. More than 200 bottles of beer and soda
are needed.

(i) Write down five inequalities representing the above information

25
(ii) Plot these inequalities on the same axes and shade out the unwanted regions

(iii) Find how many crates of beer and soda that should be bought so as to
minimize the cost of drinks and calculate this minimum cost

Ans: (iii) min cost is Shs285,000, this includes 6 beer crates and 3 soda crates

18. The graph below shows the feasible region of a linear programming problem:
yaxis

(2, 8)
8

(5, 6)
6

(7, 3)
3

0 2 5 7 xaxis

(i) Write down four inequalities representing the feasible region

(ii) List down all the possible solutions over the feasible region

(iii) Find the maximum value of F = 3x + 4y on the feasible region

(iv) Calculate the area of the feasible region

26
 Ans: (iii) max value is 39 (iv) 15squnits
19. A school Head teacher is to admit x number of male students and y female
students. The students’ admissions are subject to the following conditions:

x ≥ 10, y ≥ 15, 2 y + x ≤ 40 and y ≥ x− 5

(i) Draw the feasible region that represents this problem

(use a scale of 2cm:10 units on both axes )
(ii) The school fees for a male student is $500 and that of a female student is
$400. Find how many students of each kind that he should admit in order to
obtain maximum income and calculate this maximum income

Ans: (iii) max income is $25,000, this includes 30 males and 25 females

3. A school is to hire buses and coasters to transport at least 384 students. Each
bus can carry 64 students and a coaster carries 48. The school can hire not more
than 7 vehicles. It costs Shs 75,000 to hire a bus and Shs 45,000 for a coaster.

(i) Write down four inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Plot these inequalities on the same axes and shade out the unwanted regions

27
(iii) Find how many vehicles of each type that should be hired so as to minimize
the transport cost and calculate this minimum transport cost

(i) If x = No of hired buses and y = No of hired coasters

64x + 48y  384  4x + 3y  24 - - - - - - (i)

x + y ≤ 7 - - - - - - (ii) x  0 - - - - - - (iii) y  0 - - - - - - (iv)

(iii) Cost function: f(x, y) = 75,000x + 45,000y “Objective function”

(x, y) (3,4) (6,0) (7, 0)

f(x, y)405,000 450,000 525,000
 Min cost is Shs 405,000, this includes 3 buses and 4 coasters
(i) Write down three inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Draw suitable graphs to show the feasible region

(iii) Find the number of vehicles of each type that should be used so as to minimize
the transport cost and find this minimum transport cost

Ans: (iii) (8, 0), (4, 6), (6, 3) and least cost is Shs 360,000
(a) Find how many days of each type of vehicle they should use to
(i) Minimize the cost of the tour
(ii) Maximize the distance travelled (4 marks)

1. A test has 6 essay questions and 25 short questions. A student has only 90
minutes to do the test. Each essay question takes 10 minutes to answer and carries
20 marks. Each short question takes 2 minutes to answer and carries 5 marks. At
least 3 essay questions and at least 10 short questions must be done. The student
knows the material well enough to get full marks on all the questions he attempts.

28
(i) Write down five inequalities representing the above information

(ii) Draw the feasible region that represents this problem

(iii) Find how many questions of each type the student should answer so as to
score highly and find this highest mark the student can score

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