LINEAR PROGRAMMING

Romel M. Carandang
MMW DWCC
 CONTENTS

Linear Inequalities in Two Variables

System of Linear Inequalities in Two
Variables
Linear Programming
Linear Inequalities in Two Variables
Linear Inequalities in Two
Variables
A linear inequality in two variables is a statement in the form

where and are no both 0.

Steps in Graphing a Linear
Inequality in Two Variables
Step 1. Graph the associated linear equation. The equation will be a
boundary for the desired region. (If the inequality involves or draw a solid
line to indicate that the points on the line are included in the solution. If the
inequality sign is or, draw a dashed line indicating that points on the line
indicating that points on the line are not solutions of the inequality.)
Step 2.Pick a test point, (0,0) if possible, not on the boundary line and
substitute its coordinates into the given inequality.
Step 3.If your test point satisfies the inequality, shade the region
containing it. If not, shade the region on the other side of the boundary
line.
Example 1

Graph .
Solution:
Step 1. The associated linear equation is
The line will be graphed using a dashed line because the inequality
symbol is
The intercept points are (0, 4) and (-2, 0). Plotting and connecting these
points, we have
Step 2. Pick as test point on either side of the line. Since the point
(0, 0) is not on the line, we use this point. Substituting and in , we get

Substitute
False
Step 3. Since (0, 0) fails to satisfy the inequality, so does every
point on the same side of the line as (0. 0). Shade the region on the
other side of the boundary line.
Example 2
Graph the following linear Inequalities
Solutions:
a)

Step 1. The associated linear equation for this inequality is We graph

this line using a solid line because the inequality symbol is . Thus, using
the intercepts and , the graph is
Step 2. Pick as test point on either side of the line. Since the point (0,
0) is not on the line, we use this point. Substituting and in , we get

Substitute
False
Step 3. Since (0, 0) fails to satisfy the inequality, so does every point
on the same side of the line as (0. 0). Shade the region on the other
side of the boundary line.
Solution:

b)
Step 1. The associated linear equation for this inequality is the
vertical line . Hence, the graph is given by
Step 2. Pick as test point on either side of the line. Since the point
(0, 0) is not on the line, we use this point. Substituting and in , we ge

Substitute ; True
Step 3. Since (0, 0) satisfies the inequality, so does every point on
the same side of the line as (0. 0). Shade the region on the side of the
vertical line containing (0, 0)
 Exercises 1
Graph the following inequalities
System of Linear Inequalities in Two
Variables
 A system of linear inequalities is a result of
graphing two or more linear inequalities on the same
rectangular coordinate system. The solution of such
system is the region that is common to every graph in
the system, that is, the set of points satisfying all the
inequalities in the system.
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE:

To solve the system consisting of the inequalities

We begin by graphing the associated linear equations, .
To graph , pick (0,0) as a test point and determine if it
satisfies the inequality. Since it does not (satisfy), the
graph of is the region above and the line itself.
The graph of is the set of all points on and to the right of
the line
Thus, the solution set of the system is the
intersection of the solution sets of and . Hence,
Example 3
Graph the solution of the system
Solution:
Graph the lines .
The graph of is to the right of .
The graph of is above the line
The graph of is above the line .
Thus, the solution is the intersection of the three
regions as shown below.
 Exercises 2
Solve the following systems of inequalities graphically.
1)

2)

3)
 Exercises 2
4)

5)

6)
Linear Programming
 One application of systems of linear inequalities is linear
programming. The goal is to minimize or maximize quantities
such as cost, profit, production, storage capacity subject to
certain constraints.
Corner Principle
Let be an objective function subject to constraints on two variables
and . If the constraints form a system of linear inequalities, the
maximum and minimum values of , if there is any, can be found by:
1. Graphing systems of inequalities and locating the vertices (the points
of intersection)
2. Finding the value of the objective function at each vertex.
 N.B. The maximum and minimum values of are
the largest and the smallest values obtained from
Step 2, respectively.
Example 4
Find the maximum and minimum values of the
function subject to the following constraints:
Solution:

Graph each of the inequalities on the same coordinate system.

The common region is that which contains all ordered pairs
satisfying the constraints. It is called the feasible region.
Following the Corner Principle, has its maximum and
minimum values at the vertices of this region.
The coordinates of the vertices are found by
solving four systems of equations.
System Vertex Coordinates
A (7,0)

B (6,1)

C (0,4)

D (0,0)
Finally, compute for the value of at each vertex.

Vertex

A(7,0)

B(6,1)

C(0,4)

D(0,0)
 Note that the maximum value of is 35, occurring
at . The minimum value is which occurs at D (0,0).
Example 5
A school supplies retailer sells imported ballpens and
notebooks. He can regularly. He can regularly get between 50
and 100 pencils and between 75 and 150 notebooks but no
more than 225 items all together. The ballpens cost Php20
pesos to buy wholesale and sell for Php30 pesos, whereas the
notebooks cost Php30 but can be sold for Php45. How many
of each type should the retailer acquire to make a maximum
profit?
Solution:
Let us tabulate the information to visualize the problem.

School Supplies Profit per item Number sold Total Profit per
item

Ballpens Php 10

notebooks Php 15
solution
The total profit which we seek to maximize is the
objective function
We wish to maximize the total profit subject
to the following constraints:

At least 50 but no more than 100 ballpens

At least 75 but no more than 150 notebooks

Total number of school supplies cannot be more than 225

Graphing the system, we get
To solve five systems of equations, we need to get
the coordinates of the vertices A, B, D, E. Hence, we
have
System Vertex Coordinates
A (50,150)

B (75,150)

C (100,125)

D (100,75)

E (50,75)
Finally, we compute for the value of at each vertex.

Vertex
A(50,150)

B(75,150)
C(100,125)
D(100,75)
E(50,75)
 The maximum value of occurs at Hence, the retailer
should be able to get 75 ballpens and 150 notebooks to
maximize his profit.
 Exercises 3
I. Find the minimum and maximum values given the objective
function subject to the following constraints:
1)
3)

2)
 Exercises 3
II. Solve the following problems.
1) A school choir member decides that she will study at most 25 hours every week and practice at
least 10 hours a week. Let represents the hours of studying and represents the hours in practice.
Write two inequalities that model this situation and graph their intersection.

2) A grocery sells longganisas, tocinos and hams and can put on display 500 of them per unit time. He
can sell at most 300 longganisas and 120 tocinos and, currently, there are standing orders for 200
longganisas and 70 hams. If the profit per piece is Php2.50 for longanisas, Php3 for tocinos and Php4
for hams, how many pieces of each type should be stocked to make a maximum profit?

3) A farmer has a 5200 square meter-farm where he raise cows and goats. Cows requires 75 sq
meters while goats needs 25 sq meters each. The per head profit on cows and goats are Php1500
and Php500, respectively. If he cannot tend to raise more than 40 cows or 85 goats, how many of
each should he have in order to make the largest profit?
 REFERENCES:
Rizaldi Nocon & Ederlina Nocon. Essential Mathematics for the Modern
World. DLSU

https://www.math.ucla.edu/~tom/LP.pdf
Date Accessed: 04/18/2017