LINEAR PROGRAMMING

1. A farmer intends to use at least 30 hectares to plant wheat and barley. The number of hectares of wheat should
be less than 6 times the number of hectares of barley. The cost of planting per hectare is sh. 4000 for wheat
and sh. 10,000 for barley. The farmer has a maximum of sh.400,000 to spend on planting. He wishes to plant
wheat on at least 20 hectares. By letting the number of hectares on which he plants wheat be x and on which
he plants barley be y
(a) Write down four inequalities that represent the above information other than x ≥ 0 and y ≥ 0 . (4 marks)
Solution
x + y ≥ 30......................(i)
x < 6 y......................(ii)
Cost of planting per hectare
4,000x + 10,000 y ≤ 400,000................(iii)
4x + 10 y ≤ 400
2x + 5y ≤ 200
x ≥ 20........................(iv)
(b) Represent the inequalities in (a) above on the grid provided. (4 marks)
x + y = 30 2x + 5y = 200 x = 6y
Table of values; x 0 30 15 x 50 60 40 x 12 18 30 60 90
y 30 0 15 y 20 16 24 y 2 3 5 10 15
(c) If the farmer makes a profit of sh.10,000 for each hectare of wheat and sh.20,000 for each hectare of
barley, use a search or otherwise to determine the land in multiples of 5 hectares the farmer should use for
maximum profit. (2 marks)

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2. Mary owns a restaurant where she stocks two types of soft drinks; Apple and Orange. The two drinks are
produced in cans of the same size. She needs to order fresh supplies and has room for up to 1000 cans. Orange
is more popular and she decides to order at least twice as many cans of Orange as Apple. She wishes however,
to have at least 100 cans of Apple and not more than 800 cans of Orange. Taking x and y to be the number of
cans of Apple and Orange respectively.
(a) Write down four inequalities involving which x and y satisfy these conditions. (4 marks)
Solution
x + y ≤1000
y ≥ 2x
x ≥100
y ≤ 800

(b) On the grid provided draw all the inequalities in (a) above by shading the unwanted region. Use a scale of
1 cm to represent 100 cans on each axis. (4 marks)
x + y =1000 y − 2x = 0
Table of values x 500 0 1000 x 50 150 200 0 100
y 500 1000 0 y 100 300 400 0 200

(c) The profit of a can of Apple is Sh.20 while that of Orange is Sh.25.Use the graph to determine the number
of cans of each drink that Mary’s restaurant should order to give maximum profit. (2 marks)

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3. An NGO has to transport at least 900 people and at least 25 tonnes of supplies to a refugee camp. There are
two types of vehicles available; type A and type B. Type A can carry 30 people and 500 kg of supplies while
type B can carry 20 people and 1000 kg of supplies. The NGO requires to use at least 10 vehicles of each
type. Taking the number of type A and type B vehicles as and respectively: x y
(a) Form four linear inequalities to represent this information. (4 marks)
Solution
x ≥10, y ≥10
3x + 20 y ≥ 900 ⇒ 3x + 2 y ≥ 90
500x +1000 y ≥ 25000 ⇒ x + 2 y ≥ 50

(b) On the grid provided below, and using a scale of 1 cm to represent 5 units on both axes, draw all the
inequalities and shade the unwanted regions. (4 marks)
Solution
3x + 2 y ≥ 90 x + 2 y ≥ 50
Table of values x 0 30 10 x 0 50 20
y 45 0 30 y 25 0 15

(c) From your graph, determine the number of vehicles required at the site for optimal operation. (2 marks)

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4. A welder requires 6 hours to make a bed and 9 hours to make a door. It takes the welder at least 216 hours to
make x beds and y doors. The labour cost of making a bed is Ksh 500 and that of a door is Ksh 1000. The total
labour cost should not exceed Ksh 24 000. The welder must make at least 16 beds and more than 10 doors in
order to make a profit.
(a) Form all the linear inequalities which will represent the above information. (3 marks)
Solution
6x + 9 y ≥ 216
500x + 1000 y ≤ 24000 ⇒ x + 2 y ≤ 48
x ≥ 16
y > 10
(b) On the grid provided, draw the inequalities and shade the unwanted region. (4 marks)
x + 2 y ≤ 48 6x + 9 y ≥ 216
Tables of values x 10 20 30 x 0 36
y 19 14 9 y 24 0

(c) The welder makes a profit of Ksh 400 on a bed and Ksh 1000 on a door. Use the graph and a search line to
determine the maximum profit the welder can make. (3 marks)

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5. The dimensions of a rectangular floor of a proposed room are such that:
− The length is greater than the width but at most twice the width;
− The sum of the width and length is more than 4 metres but less than 10 metres.
If x represents the width and y the length;
(a) Write inequalities to represent the above information. (4 marks)
Solution
y> x⇒ y−x>0
y ≤ 2x ⇒ y − 2x ≤ 0
x+ y>4
x + y < 10
(b) Represent the inequalities in (a) above on a linear programming diagram. (4 marks)
y− x >0 y − 2x ≤ 0 y+x>4 y + x <10
Table of values x 1 2 10 x 5 3 2 x 2 1 4 x 10 0 5
y 1 2 10 y 10 6 4 y 2 3 3 y 0 10 5

(c) Using the integral values of x and y, list all the possible dimensions of the floor hence find the maximum
possible area of the floor. (2 marks)