PADM 5320 Exercises 3 solutions due 25 September 2019=

Chapters 5 and 6.
1. Diet model

You are in charge of the local SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Your
dogs need to eat and there are two varieties of food available: dog foods DG and CC. Their unit
costs are $1.10 and $0.90 respectively. Your job is to find the least cost combination of pounds
of DG and CC for each dog that meets various nutrition constraints shown on the table below.
The ingredients are expressed in per pound of DG and CC.
Ingredient DG CC Daily minimum/dog/day
Protein 3 ounces 4 ounces 8 ounces
Carbohydrate 5 ounces 12 ounces 11 ounces
Iron 30 mg 35 mg 100 mg

a) First describe your objective function and constraints in words, and then
Minimize cost of dog food while providing requirements for protein, carbohydrate
and iron.
b) define the parameters and variables, and their units, that you can use to create a
mathematical model.

Parameters: ounces of protein per pound of DG and CC.

Ounces of carbohydrate per pound of DG and CC.
Mg of iron per pound of DG and CC.
Cost per pound of DG and CC
Minimum daily requirements of ounces of protein and carbohydrate
Minimum daily requirements of mg of iron.
Variables: Pounds of DG and CC to buy.

c) Express the model mathematically.

Model: Minimize 1.10 DG + 0.90 CC
subject to:
3 DG + 4 CC ≥ 8;
5 DG + 12 CC ≥ 11;
30 DG + 35 CC ≥ 100;
DG≥ 0, CC ≥ 0;

d) Show the solution by plotting the constraints and objective function on a graph of
DG vs CC.
 CC Solution: $ 2.57
CC = 100/35 = 2.86
100/35 DG = 0

8/4
Feasible region

11/12

DG
5/11 8/3 100/30

2. Blueberries
There are three farmer’s markets that sell organically and locally grown blueberries. The
farmer who grows these blueberries gets 90 percent of the income from their sales; the
markets get the other 10%. The demand for blueberries differs at each market. Some smart
economist has determined that the demand (unit price) functions for blueberries at the three
markets (m=1,2,3) are 6/(1+Q1), 7/(1+1.5Q2), and 8/(1+0.5Q3), respectively.

Unit Demand functions for blueberries.

price

Qm

At each market m the unit price varies each week depending on the amount of blueberries
available, Qm, to be sold. How should the farmer distribute a crop ranging from 1 to 6 bushels
of blueberries each week to maximize the total amount of income received from all three
markets?

a) Construct an optimization model and solve it using the hill climbing method,
assuming integer bushel allocations. Identify the best distribution of 1 to 6 bushels.

b) Based on the results of this hill climbing method sketch a maximum revenue
function for the farmer based on the total amount of blueberries available to send
to the three markets.
c) How would the integer allocation of 6 bushels differ if the overall objective were to
maximize the total income from all three markets while keeping their individual
market incomes as close to being the same as possible?
d) Solve for the maximum revenue obtainable from a total of 6 bushels using discrete
dynamic programming, again assuming integer allocations. Use both backward and
forward approaches. Show your work on the DP network, not just the solution.