Gavin West

Reflective Writing for Optimization Project

In this lab, there is an advertising campaign being put forth and they are trying to figure

out how to reach the maximum number of people. They have certain criteria to meet which is as

follows: The business has to purchase at least 60 ads, radio ads cost $400, TV ads cost $1200,

Their total budget is $68000, they need to have at least three times as many TV ads as radio ads,

each radio ad will reach around 1900 people, and each TV ad will reach around 14500 people. In

order to figure out the correct amount of each type of ad to fit their criteria, I first had to get a

few linear inequalities in order to represent this criteria on a graph. I then graphed the

inequalities, and found that they intersect in three places, creating a triangle with three vertices.

Each of these vertices would satisfy the criteria, but I needed to figure out the best one. I used

systems of linear equations to figure out each of the vertices, then used the objective function to

figure out which set would reach the maximum number of people. I found that purchasing 5

radio ads and 55 TV ads correctly satisfied all the criteria, and reached the maximum number of

people.

Another application where this analysis may be beneficial is when mixing certain things

such as chemicals and food in order to create a correct ratio so the mixture satisfies any criteria

someone may be looking for. It would be important to explain the details of this product to

clients to show exactly where the data came from and to show that the result will truly optimize

the advertisement campaign, so that the client's trust that you will satisfy their needs exactly. If

the number of ads, cost, or budget changed, the results would change in order to fill the correct

needs of these changes, so that the budget is not overstepped, and the minimum amount of ads is

met. If the results did not change, these problems would likely occur. If the vertices came out to
be integer values, I would personally round the values to be whole numbers, and test them using

the criteria that needs to be met. If the criteria is not met, I would slightly change the numbers

and continue to test them, to optimize the results for the specific vertice.

This assignment did change my perspective on how math can be applied to real world

situations a lot. It taught me how to take information and turn it into graphable inequalities to

meet the needs of the problem in the best possible way. I also saw that it can be useful to present

the information to clients if you are trying to sell a certain service or product, so they know

exactly where your data is coming from and that it truly is the best. This project generally helped

to represent another way that math can be used in real world situations and it has interested me

further to what other applications this may have.