EdExcel A-Level Further Maths

Decision Mathematics 1
Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm
7.1 Formulating linear programming problems
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 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Time per Total time

• define decision variables A B C D
hectare available
• write down the objective
• Write down the constraints Sowing 3 4 3 5 70
Thinning 18 17 19 16 360
Example 1
Picking 20 25 26 22 500
A grower specialising in cut flowers is considering cultivating four varieties of the new Packing 24 27 28 23 550
‘Sunlip’ flowers A, B, C and D in one of his fields. He estimates the time, in hours per
hectare, taken for each of four stages – sowing, thinning, picking and packing, for each Profit 67 63 71 75
variety.

For variety A sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 18, 20 and 24 hours per
hectare respectively.

For variety B sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 4, 17, 25 and 27 hours per
hectare respectively.

For variety C sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 19, 26 and 28 hours per
hectare respectively.

For variety D sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 5, 16, 22 and 23 hours per
hectare respectively.

For this crop he can devote up to 70 hours to sowing, 360 to thinning, 500 to picking and
550 to packing.

He estimates the total profit, in pound per hectare, as 67, 63, 71 and 75 for varieties A, B,
C and D respectively.

He has up to 20 hectares to use for this crop and wishes to maximise his profit.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem. Define your variables, state your
objective and white down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Time per Total time

• define decision variables A B C D
hectare available
• write down the objective
• Write down the constraints Sowing 3 4 3 5 70
Thinning 18 17 19 16 360
Example 1
Picking 20 25 26 22 500
A grower specialising in cut flowers is considering cultivating four varieties of the new Packing 24 27 28 23 550
‘Sunlip’ flowers A, B, C and D in one of his fields. He estimates the time, in hours per
hectare, taken for each of four stages – sowing, thinning, picking and packing, for each Profit 67 63 71 75
variety.
Let , , and be the number of hectares planed of varieties A, B, C and D respectively.
For variety A sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 18, 20 and 24 hours per
hectare respectively.

For variety B sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 4, 17, 25 and 27 hours per
hectare respectively.

For variety C sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 19, 26 and 28 hours per
hectare respectively.

For variety D sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 5, 16, 22 and 23 hours per
hectare respectively.

For this crop he can devote up to 70 hours to sowing, 360 to thinning, 500 to picking and
550 to packing.

He estimates the total profit, in pound per hectare, as 67, 63, 71 and 75 for varieties A, B,
C and D respectively.

He has up to 20 hectares to use for this crop and wishes to maximise his profit.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem. Define your variables, state your
objective and white down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Time per Total time

• define decision variables A B C D
hectare available
• write down the objective
• Write down the constraints Sowing 3 4 3 5 70
Thinning 18 17 19 16 360
Example 1
Picking 20 25 26 22 500
A grower specialising in cut flowers is considering cultivating four varieties of the new Packing 24 27 28 23 550
‘Sunlip’ flowers A, B, C and D in one of his fields. He estimates the time, in hours per
hectare, taken for each of four stages – sowing, thinning, picking and packing, for each Profit 67 63 71 75
variety.
Let , , and be the number of hectares planed of varieties A, B, C and D respectively.
For variety A sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 18, 20 and 24 hours per
hectare respectively. Maximise

For variety B sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 4, 17, 25 and 27 hours per
hectare respectively.

For variety C sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 19, 26 and 28 hours per
hectare respectively.

For variety D sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 5, 16, 22 and 23 hours per
hectare respectively.

For this crop he can devote up to 70 hours to sowing, 360 to thinning, 500 to picking and
550 to packing.

He estimates the total profit, in pound per hectare, as 67, 63, 71 and 75 for varieties A, B,
C and D respectively.

He has up to 20 hectares to use for this crop and wishes to maximise his profit.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem. Define your variables, state your
objective and white down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Time per Total time

• define decision variables A B C D
hectare available
• write down the objective
• Write down the constraints Sowing 3 4 3 5 70
Thinning 18 17 19 16 360
Example 1
Picking 20 25 26 22 500
A grower specialising in cut flowers is considering cultivating four varieties of the new Packing 24 27 28 23 550
‘Sunlip’ flowers A, B, C and D in one of his fields. He estimates the time, in hours per
hectare, taken for each of four stages – sowing, thinning, picking and packing, for each Profit 67 63 71 75
variety.
Let , , and be the number of hectares planed of varieties A, B, C and D respectively.
For variety A sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 18, 20 and 24 hours per
hectare respectively. Maximise

For variety B sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 4, 17, 25 and 27 hours per Subject to:
hectare respectively.

For variety C sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 19, 26 and 28 hours per
hectare respectively.

For variety D sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 5, 16, 22 and 23 hours per
hectare respectively.

For this crop he can devote up to 70 hours to sowing, 360 to thinning, 500 to picking and
550 to packing.

He estimates the total profit, in pound per hectare, as 67, 63, 71 and 75 for varieties A, B,
C and D respectively.

He has up to 20 hectares to use for this crop and wishes to maximise his profit.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem. Define your variables, state your
objective and white down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Time per Total time

• define decision variables A B C D
hectare available
• write down the objective
• Write down the constraints Sowing 3 4 3 5 70
Thinning 18 17 19 16 360
Example 1
Picking 20 25 26 22 500
A grower specialising in cut flowers is considering cultivating four varieties of the new Packing 24 27 28 23 550
‘Sunlip’ flowers A, B, C and D in one of his fields. He estimates the time, in hours per
hectare, taken for each of four stages – sowing, thinning, picking and packing, for each Profit 67 63 71 75
variety.
Let , , and be the number of hectares planed of varieties A, B, C and D respectively.
For variety A sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 18, 20 and 24 hours per
hectare respectively. Maximise

For variety B sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 4, 17, 25 and 27 hours per Subject to:
hectare respectively.

For variety C sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 19, 26 and 28 hours per
hectare respectively.

For variety D sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 5, 16, 22 and 23 hours per
hectare respectively.

For this crop he can devote up to 70 hours to sowing, 360 to thinning, 500 to picking and
550 to packing.

He estimates the total profit, in pound per hectare, as 67, 63, 71 and 75 for varieties A, B,
C and D respectively.

He has up to 20 hectares to use for this crop and wishes to maximise his profit.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem. Define your variables, state your
objective and white down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Time per Total time

• define decision variables A B C D
hectare available
• write down the objective
• Write down the constraints Sowing 3 4 3 5 70
Thinning 18 17 19 16 360
Example 1
Picking 20 25 26 22 500
A grower specialising in cut flowers is considering cultivating four varieties of the new Packing 24 27 28 23 550
‘Sunlip’ flowers A, B, C and D in one of his fields. He estimates the time, in hours per
hectare, taken for each of four stages – sowing, thinning, picking and packing, for each Profit 67 63 71 75
variety.
Let , , and be the number of hectares planed of varieties A, B, C and D respectively.
For variety A sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 18, 20 and 24 hours per
hectare respectively. Maximise

For variety B sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 4, 17, 25 and 27 hours per Subject to:
hectare respectively.

For variety C sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 19, 26 and 28 hours per
hectare respectively.

For variety D sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 5, 16, 22 and 23 hours per
hectare respectively.

For this crop he can devote up to 70 hours to sowing, 360 to thinning, 500 to picking and
550 to packing.

He estimates the total profit, in pound per hectare, as 67, 63, 71 and 75 for varieties A, B,
C and D respectively.

He has up to 20 hectares to use for this crop and wishes to maximise his profit.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem. Define your variables, state your
objective and white down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Time per Total time

• define decision variables A B C D
hectare available
• write down the objective
• Write down the constraints Sowing 3 4 3 5 70
Thinning 18 17 19 16 360
Example 1
Picking 20 25 26 22 500
A grower specialising in cut flowers is considering cultivating four varieties of the new Packing 24 27 28 23 550
‘Sunlip’ flowers A, B, C and D in one of his fields. He estimates the time, in hours per
hectare, taken for each of four stages – sowing, thinning, picking and packing, for each Profit 67 63 71 75
variety.
Let , , and be the number of hectares planed of varieties A, B, C and D respectively.
For variety A sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 18, 20 and 24 hours per
hectare respectively. Maximise

For variety B sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 4, 17, 25 and 27 hours per Subject to:
hectare respectively.

For variety C sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 19, 26 and 28 hours per
hectare respectively.

For variety D sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 5, 16, 22 and 23 hours per
hectare respectively.

For this crop he can devote up to 70 hours to sowing, 360 to thinning, 500 to picking and
550 to packing.

He estimates the total profit, in pound per hectare, as 67, 63, 71 and 75 for varieties A, B,
C and D respectively.

He has up to 20 hectares to use for this crop and wishes to maximise his profit.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem. Define your variables, state your
objective and white down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Time per Total time

• define decision variables A B C D
hectare available
• write down the objective
• Write down the constraints Sowing 3 4 3 5 70
Thinning 18 17 19 16 360
Example 1
Picking 20 25 26 22 500
A grower specialising in cut flowers is considering cultivating four varieties of the new Packing 24 27 28 23 550
‘Sunlip’ flowers A, B, C and D in one of his fields. He estimates the time, in hours per
hectare, taken for each of four stages – sowing, thinning, picking and packing, for each Profit 67 63 71 75
variety.
Let , , and be the number of hectares planed of varieties A, B, C and D respectively.
For variety A sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 18, 20 and 24 hours per
hectare respectively. Maximise

For variety B sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 4, 17, 25 and 27 hours per Subject to:
hectare respectively.

For variety C sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 19, 26 and 28 hours per
hectare respectively.

For variety D sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 5, 16, 22 and 23 hours per
hectare respectively.

For this crop he can devote up to 70 hours to sowing, 360 to thinning, 500 to picking and
550 to packing.

He estimates the total profit, in pound per hectare, as 67, 63, 71 and 75 for varieties A, B,
C and D respectively.

He has up to 20 hectares to use for this crop and wishes to maximise his profit.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem. Define your variables, state your
objective and white down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Time per Total time

• define decision variables A B C D
hectare available
• write down the objective
• Write down the constraints Sowing 3 4 3 5 70
Thinning 18 17 19 16 360
Example 1
Picking 20 25 26 22 500
A grower specialising in cut flowers is considering cultivating four varieties of the new Packing 24 27 28 23 550
‘Sunlip’ flowers A, B, C and D in one of his fields. He estimates the time, in hours per
hectare, taken for each of four stages – sowing, thinning, picking and packing, for each Profit 67 63 71 75
variety.
Let , , and be the number of hectares planed of varieties A, B, C and D respectively.
For variety A sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 18, 20 and 24 hours per
hectare respectively. Maximise

For variety B sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 4, 17, 25 and 27 hours per Subject to:
hectare respectively.

For variety C sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 19, 26 and 28 hours per
hectare respectively.

For variety D sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 5, 16, 22 and 23 hours per
hectare respectively.

For this crop he can devote up to 70 hours to sowing, 360 to thinning, 500 to picking and
550 to packing.

He estimates the total profit, in pound per hectare, as 67, 63, 71 and 75 for varieties A, B,
C and D respectively.

He has up to 20 hectares to use for this crop and wishes to maximise his profit.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem. Define your variables, state your
objective and white down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Time per Total time

• define decision variables A B C D
hectare available
• write down the objective
• Write down the constraints Sowing 3 4 3 5 70
Thinning 18 17 19 16 360
Example 1
Picking 20 25 26 22 500
A grower specialising in cut flowers is considering cultivating four varieties of the new Packing 24 27 28 23 550
‘Sunlip’ flowers A, B, C and D in one of his fields. He estimates the time, in hours per
hectare, taken for each of four stages – sowing, thinning, picking and packing, for each Profit 67 63 71 75
variety.
Let , , and be the number of hectares planed of varieties A, B, C and D respectively.
For variety A sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 18, 20 and 24 hours per
hectare respectively. Maximise

For variety B sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 4, 17, 25 and 27 hours per Subject to:
hectare respectively.

For variety C sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 3, 19, 26 and 28 hours per
hectare respectively.

For variety D sowing, thinning, picking and packing will take 5, 16, 22 and 23 hours per
hectare respectively.

For this crop he can devote up to 70 hours to sowing, 360 to thinning, 500 to picking and
550 to packing.

He estimates the total profit, in pound per hectare, as 67, 63, 71 and 75 for varieties A, B,
C and D respectively.

He has up to 20 hectares to use for this crop and wishes to maximise his profit.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem. Define your variables, state your
objective and white down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Let be the number of Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and Yestivit tablets taken each day.
• define decision variables
• write down the objective Minimise
• Write down the constraints
Subject to:
Example 2

In order to supplement his diet, Andy wishes to take some Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and
Yestivit tablets. Amongst other ingredients, the contents of vitamins A, B, C and iron, in
milligrams per tablet, are shown in the table.
A B C Iron
Vitatab 10 10 20 4
Weldo 15 20 10 5

Xtrami 25 15 15 3
n

Yestivi
Andyt wishes 20 15 to provide
to take tablets 20 2 at least 80, 30, 60 and 14 milligrams of
him with
vitamins A, B, C and iron per day.

Because of other factors Andy wants at least 25% of the tablets he takes to be Vitatab and
wants to take at least twice as many Weldo as Yestivit.

The costs of the tablets are 4, 6, 12 and 7 pence per tablet. Andy wishes to minimise the
cost.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem, defining your variables, stating your
objective and writing down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Let be the number of Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and Yestivit tablets taken each day.
• define decision variables
• write down the objective Minimise
• Write down the constraints
Subject to:
Example 2

In order to supplement his diet, Andy wishes to take some Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and
Yestivit tablets. Amongst other ingredients, the contents of vitamins A, B, C and iron, in
milligrams per tablet, are shown in the table.
A B C Iron
Vitatab 10 10 20 4
Weldo 15 20 10 5

Xtrami 25 15 15 3
n

Yestivi
Andyt wishes 20 15 to provide
to take tablets 20 2 at least 80, 30, 60 and 14 milligrams of
him with
vitamins A, B, C and iron per day.

Because of other factors Andy wants at least 25% of the tablets he takes to be Vitatab and
wants to take at least twice as many Weldo as Yestivit.

The costs of the tablets are 4, 6, 12 and 7 pence per tablet. Andy wishes to minimise the
cost.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem, defining your variables, stating your
objective and writing down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Let be the number of Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and Yestivit tablets taken each day.
• define decision variables
• write down the objective Minimise
• Write down the constraints
Subject to:
Example 2

In order to supplement his diet, Andy wishes to take some Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and
Yestivit tablets. Amongst other ingredients, the contents of vitamins A, B, C and iron, in
milligrams per tablet, are shown in the table.
A B C Iron
Vitatab 10 10 20 4
Weldo 15 20 10 5

Xtrami 25 15 15 3
n

Yestivi
Andyt wishes 20 15 to provide
to take tablets 20 2 at least 80, 30, 60 and 14 milligrams of
him with
vitamins A, B, C and iron per day.

Because of other factors Andy wants at least 25% of the tablets he takes to be Vitatab and
wants to take at least twice as many Weldo as Yestivit.

The costs of the tablets are 4, 6, 12 and 7 pence per tablet. Andy wishes to minimise the
cost.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem, defining your variables, stating your
objective and writing down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Let be the number of Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and Yestivit tablets taken each day.
• define decision variables
• write down the objective Minimise
• Write down the constraints
Subject to:
Example 2

In order to supplement his diet, Andy wishes to take some Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and
Yestivit tablets. Amongst other ingredients, the contents of vitamins A, B, C and iron, in
milligrams per tablet, are shown in the table.
A B C Iron
Vitatab 10 10 20 4
Weldo 15 20 10 5

Xtrami 25 15 15 3
n

Yestivi
Andyt wishes 20 15 to provide
to take tablets 20 2 at least 80, 30, 60 and 14 milligrams of
him with
vitamins A, B, C and iron per day.

Because of other factors Andy wants at least 25% of the tablets he takes to be Vitatab and
wants to take at least twice as many Weldo as Yestivit.

The costs of the tablets are 4, 6, 12 and 7 pence per tablet. Andy wishes to minimise the
cost.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem, defining your variables, stating your
objective and writing down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Let be the number of Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and Yestivit tablets taken each day.
• define decision variables
• write down the objective Minimise
• Write down the constraints
Subject to:
Example 2

In order to supplement his diet, Andy wishes to take some Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and
Yestivit tablets. Amongst other ingredients, the contents of vitamins A, B, C and iron, in
milligrams per tablet, are shown in the table.
A B C Iron
Vitatab 10 10 20 4
Weldo 15 20 10 5

Xtrami 25 15 15 3
n

Yestivi
Andyt wishes 20 15 to provide
to take tablets 20 2 at least 80, 30, 60 and 14 milligrams of
him with
vitamins A, B, C and iron per day.

Because of other factors Andy wants at least 25% of the tablets he takes to be Vitatab and
wants to take at least twice as many Weldo as Yestivit.

The costs of the tablets are 4, 6, 12 and 7 pence per tablet. Andy wishes to minimise the
cost.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem, defining your variables, stating your
objective and writing down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Let be the number of Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and Yestivit tablets taken each day.
• define decision variables
• write down the objective Minimise
• Write down the constraints
Subject to:
Example 2

In order to supplement his diet, Andy wishes to take some Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and
Yestivit tablets. Amongst other ingredients, the contents of vitamins A, B, C and iron, in
milligrams per tablet, are shown in the table.
A B C Iron
Vitatab 10 10 20 4
Weldo 15 20 10 5

Xtrami 25 15 15 3
n

Yestivi
Andyt wishes 20 15 to provide
to take tablets 20 2 at least 80, 30, 60 and 14 milligrams of
him with
vitamins A, B, C and iron per day.

Because of other factors Andy wants at least 25% of the tablets he takes to be Vitatab and
wants to take at least twice as many Weldo as Yestivit.

The costs of the tablets are 4, 6, 12 and 7 pence per tablet. Andy wishes to minimise the
cost.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem, defining your variables, stating your
objective and writing down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Let be the number of Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and Yestivit tablets taken each day.
• define decision variables
• write down the objective Minimise
• Write down the constraints
Subject to:
Example 2

In order to supplement his diet, Andy wishes to take some Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and
Yestivit tablets. Amongst other ingredients, the contents of vitamins A, B, C and iron, in
milligrams per tablet, are shown in the table.
A B C Iron
Vitatab 10 10 20 4
Weldo 15 20 10 5

Xtrami 25 15 15 3
n

Yestivi
Andyt wishes 20 15 to provide
to take tablets 20 2 at least 80, 30, 60 and 14 milligrams of
him with
vitamins A, B, C and iron per day.

Because of other factors Andy wants at least 25% of the tablets he takes to be Vitatab and
wants to take at least twice as many Weldo as Yestivit.

The costs of the tablets are 4, 6, 12 and 7 pence per tablet. Andy wishes to minimise the
cost.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem, defining your variables, stating your
objective and writing down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Let be the number of Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and Yestivit tablets taken each day.
• define decision variables
• write down the objective Minimise
• Write down the constraints
Subject to:
Example 2

In order to supplement his diet, Andy wishes to take some Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and
Yestivit tablets. Amongst other ingredients, the contents of vitamins A, B, C and iron, in
milligrams per tablet, are shown in the table.
A B C Iron
Vitatab 10 10 20 4
Weldo 15 20 10 5

Xtrami 25 15 15 3
n

Yestivi
Andyt wishes 20 15 to provide
to take tablets 20 2 at least 80, 30, 60 and 14 milligrams of
him with
vitamins A, B, C and iron per day.

Because of other factors Andy wants at least 25% of the tablets he takes to be Vitatab and
wants to take at least twice as many Weldo as Yestivit.

The costs of the tablets are 4, 6, 12 and 7 pence per tablet. Andy wishes to minimise the
cost.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem, defining your variables, stating your
objective and writing down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Let be the number of Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and Yestivit tablets taken each day.
• define decision variables
• write down the objective Minimise
• Write down the constraints
Subject to:
Example 2

In order to supplement his diet, Andy wishes to take some Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and
Yestivit tablets. Amongst other ingredients, the contents of vitamins A, B, C and iron, in
milligrams per tablet, are shown in the table.
A B C Iron
Vitatab 10 10 20 4
Weldo 15 20 10 5

Xtrami 25 15 15 3
n

Yestivi
Andyt wishes 20 15 to provide
to take tablets 20 2 at least 80, 30, 60 and 14 milligrams of
him with
vitamins A, B, C and iron per day.

Because of other factors Andy wants at least 25% of the tablets he takes to be Vitatab and
wants to take at least twice as many Weldo as Yestivit.

The costs of the tablets are 4, 6, 12 and 7 pence per tablet. Andy wishes to minimise the
cost.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem, defining your variables, stating your
objective and writing down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Let be the number of Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and Yestivit tablets taken each day.
• define decision variables
• write down the objective Minimise
• Write down the constraints
Subject to:
Example 2

In order to supplement his diet, Andy wishes to take some Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and
Yestivit tablets. Amongst other ingredients, the contents of vitamins A, B, C and iron, in
milligrams per tablet, are shown in the table.
A B C Iron
Vitatab 10 10 20 4
Weldo 15 20 10 5

Xtrami 25 15 15 3
n

Yestivi
Andyt wishes 20 15 to provide
to take tablets 20 2 at least 80, 30, 60 and 14 milligrams of
him with
vitamins A, B, C and iron per day.

Because of other factors Andy wants at least 25% of the tablets he takes to be Vitatab and
wants to take at least twice as many Weldo as Yestivit.

The costs of the tablets are 4, 6, 12 and 7 pence per tablet. Andy wishes to minimise the
cost.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem, defining your variables, stating your
objective and writing down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

To formulate a linear programming problem: Let be the number of Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and Yestivit tablets taken each day.
• define decision variables
• write down the objective Minimise
• Write down the constraints
Subject to:
Example 2

In order to supplement his diet, Andy wishes to take some Vitatab, Weldo, Xtramin and
Yestivit tablets. Amongst other ingredients, the contents of vitamins A, B, C and iron, in
milligrams per tablet, are shown in the table.
A B C Iron
Vitatab 10 10 20 4
Weldo 15 20 10 5

Xtrami 25 15 15 3
n

Yestivi
Andyt wishes 20 15 to provide
to take tablets 20 2 at least 80, 30, 60 and 14 milligrams of
him with
vitamins A, B, C and iron per day.

Because of other factors Andy wants at least 25% of the tablets he takes to be Vitatab and
wants to take at least twice as many Weldo as Yestivit.

The costs of the tablets are 4, 6, 12 and 7 pence per tablet. Andy wishes to minimise the
cost.

Formulate this as a linear programming problem, defining your variables, stating your
objective and writing down your constraints as inequalities.
 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

It is often easier to implement an algorithm using systems of equations, rather than

systems of inequalities.
The value of the slack variable, , tells us by how much is less than 23, i.e.
Inequalities can be transformed into equations using slack variables (so called because
they represent the amount of slack between an actual quantity and the maximum possible
value of that quality).

A slack variable acts like a sponge, absorbing spare capacity.

Example 3

Rewrite the inequality as an equation, using the slack variable, .

 EdExcel A-Level Further Maths | Decision Mathematics 1 | Ch7 The Simplex Algorithm | 7.1 Formulating linear programming problems

It is often easier to implement an algorithm using systems of equations, rather than

systems of inequalities.

Inequalities can be transformed into equations using slack variables (so called because
they represent the amount of slack between an actual quantity and the maximum possible
value of that quality).

A slack variable acts like a sponge, absorbing spare capacity.

Example 4

Rewrite the constraints Example 1 as equations using slack variables , , and . Notice that you alter the non-negativity constrains too. In order to satisfy the original
inequalities and must also be non negative. In general, slack variables cannot be
negative.