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The document explains the process of solving a linear programming problem using the simplex method, highlighting the identification of pivot columns and elements. It describes how to derive a basic solution from an initial simplex tableau by assigning arbitrary values to some variables. The document emphasizes the importance of selecting the most negative entry in the bottom row to maximize the objective function efficiently.

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16 views1 page

Full Pages 6

The document explains the process of solving a linear programming problem using the simplex method, highlighting the identification of pivot columns and elements. It describes how to derive a basic solution from an initial simplex tableau by assigning arbitrary values to some variables. The document emphasizes the importance of selecting the most negative entry in the bottom row to maximize the objective function efficiently.

Uploaded by

aldrin ladano
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Here the vertical line separates the left hand side of the equations from the right side.

The horizontal line separates the


constraints from the objective function. The right side of the equation is represented by the column C.
The reader needs to observe that the last four columns of this matrix look like the final matrix for the solution of a system of
equations. If we arbitrarily choose x = 0 and x = 0 , we get
1 2

y1 y2 Z | C
⎡ ⎤

⎢ 1 0 0 | 12 ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ 0 1 0 | 16 ⎥

⎣ ⎦
0 0 1 | 0

which reads

y1 = 12 y2 = 16 Z =0

The solution obtained by arbitrarily assigning values to some variables and then solving for the remaining variables is called
the basic solution associated with the tableau. So the above solution is the basic solution associated with the initial simplex
tableau. We can label the basic solution variable in the right of the last column as shown in the table below.

STEP 4. The most negative entry in the bottom row identifies the pivot column.
The most negative entry in the bottom row is -40; therefore the column 1 is identified.

Question Why do we choose the most negative entry in the bottom row?
Answer The most negative entry in the bottom row represents the largest coefficient in the objective function - the coefficient
whose entry will increase the value of the objective function the quickest.
The simplex method begins at a corner point where all the main variables, the variables that have symbols such as x , x , x
1 2 3

etc., are zero. It then moves from a corner point to the adjacent corner point always increasing the value of the objective
function. In the case of the objective function Z = 40x + 30x 2 , it will make more sense to increase the value of x rather
1 1

than x . The variable x represents the number of hours per week Niki works at Job I. Since Job I pays $40 per hour as
2 1

opposed to Job II which pays only $30, the variable x will increase the objective function by $40 for a unit of increase in the
1

variable x .
1

STEP 5. Calculate the quotients. The smallest quotient identifies a row. The element in the intersection of the column
identified in step 4 and the row identified in this step is identified as the pivot element.
Following the algorithm, in order to calculate the quotient, we divide the entries in the far right column by the entries in
column 1, excluding the entry in the bottom row.

The smallest of the two quotients, 12 and 8, is 8. Therefore row 2 is identified. The intersection of column 1 and row 2 is the
entry 2, which has been highlighted. This is our pivot element.
Question Why do we find quotients, and why does the smallest quotient identify a row?

4.2.3 https://math.libretexts.org/@go/page/37869

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