Rahul (B.

Com (H) SRCC

(Actuarial Science)

CHAPTER – 3
LINEAR PROGRAMMING – PROBLEM FORMULATION AND GRAPHICAL
METHOD
PROBLEM FORMULATION
1. A firm makes two types of furniture – chairs and tables. The contribution for
each product as calculated by the accounting department is Rs. 20 per chair
and Rs. 30 per table. Both the products are processed on three machines M 1,
M2 & M3. The times required (in hours) by each product and total time
available per week on each machine are as follows:
Machine Chair Table Available hours
per week
M1 3 3 36
M2 5 2 50
M3 2 6 60
Formulate as a linear programming model to maximize the total contribution.
[Ans.: Max. Z = 20x1 + 30x2, Sub. to: x1 + x2  12, 5x1 + 2x2  50, x1 + 3x2  30, x1 x2
 0]
2. The vitamins V and W are found in two different foods, F 1 and F2. The
amount of vitamin in each of the two foods, respective prices per unit of each
food, and the daily vitamin requirements are given in the following table.
The data indicate that one unit of F 1 contains 2 units of vitamin V and 3 units
of vitamin W. Similarly one unit of F 2 contains 4 units of vitamin V and 2
units vitamin W. Daily requirements of vitamin V is at least 40 units and
vitamin W of at least 50 units.
The problem is to determine optimal quantities of foods F 1 and F2 to be
bought so that the daily vitamin requirements are met and, simultaneously
the cost of buying the goods is minimized.
Vitamin F1 F2 Daily
Requirements
V 2 4 40
W 3 2 50
 Rahul (B.Com (H) SRCC
(Actuarial Science)

Cost / Unit of 3 2.5

food
[Ans.: Min. Z = 3x1 + 2.5x2; 2x1 + 4x2  40, 3 x1 x1, x2 0]
3. A manufacturer can produce two different products, A and B during a given
period. Each of these products requires four manufacturing operations:
Grinding, turning, assembly and testing. The manufacturing requirements in
hours per unit of the product are given below:
Operation Product Available Capacities
A B (In hours)
Grinding 1 2 30
Turning 3 1 60
Assembly 6 3 200
Testing 5 4 200
The contribution to profit is Rs. 2 for each unit of A and Rs. 3 for each unit of
B. the firm can sell all that it produces at the prevailing market price.
Formulate the problem as a linear programming model to maximize the
profit.
[Ans.: Max. Z = 2x1 + 3x2, Sub. to: x1 + 2x2  30, 3x1 + x2  60, 6x1 + 3x2  200,
5x1 + 4x2  200, x1, x2  0]
4. A small jewellery manufacturing company employs a person who is a highly
skilled gem cutter, and it wishes to use this person at least 6 hours per day
for this purpose. On the other hand, the polishing facilities can be used in any
amount up to 8 hours per day. The company specializes in three kinds of
semi-precious stones P, Q and R. Relevant cutting, polishing and cost
requirements are listed in the following table:
P Q R
Cutting 2 hours 1 hour 1 hour
Polishing 1 hour 1 hour 2 hours
Cost per stone Rs. 30 Rs. 30 Rs. 10
 Rahul (B.Com (H) SRCC
(Actuarial Science)

Formulate the above problem as an LP model to determine the no. of

gemstones of each type to be processed each day so as to minimize the cost of
finished stones? Do not solve it.
[Ans.: Min. Z = 30x1 + 30x2 + 10x3, Sub to: 2x1 + x2 + x3  6, x1 + x2 + 2x3  8, x1,
x2, x3  0]
5. A company has three operational departments (weaving, processing and
packing) with capacity to produce three different types of clothes namely
suitings, shirtings and woolens yielding the profit Rs. 2, Rs. 4 and Rs. 3 per
meter respectively. One meter suiting requires 3 minutes in weaving, 2
minutes in processing and 1 minute in packing. Similarly one meter of
shirting requires 4 minutes in weaving, 1 minute in processing and 3
minutes in packing while one meter woolen requires 3 minutes in each
department. In a week, total run time of each department is 60, 40 and 80
hours for weaving, processing and packing departments respectively.
Formulate the linear programming problem to find the product mix to
maximize the profit.
[Ans.: Max. Z = 2x1 + 4x2 + 3x3; Sub to: 3x1 + 4x2 + 3x3 <H3600; 2x1 + x2 + 3x3 
2400; x1 + 3x2 + 3x2  4800; x1, x2, x3  0]
6. A manufacturing company is engaged in manufacturing three types of
products A, B & C. The production department daily produces components
sufficient to make 50 units of A, 25 units of B and 30 units of C. The
management is confronted with the problem of optimizing the daily
production of products in assembly department where only 100 man-hours
are available daily to assemble the products. The following additional
information is available:
Type of product Profit contribution per Assembly time per unit
unit of product (Rs.) of product (Hours)
A 12 0.8
B 20 1.7
C 45 2.5
The company has a daily order commitment for 20 units of A, and a total of 15
units of B and C together.
 Rahul (B.Com (H) SRCC
(Actuarial Science)

[Ans.: Max. Z = 12x1 + 20x2 + 45x3; Sub to: 0.8x1 + 1.7x2 + 2.5x3  100, 20  x1  50,
x2  25, x3  30; x2 + x3  15, x2, x3  0]
7. A manufacturing company produces two types of products, the SUPER and
the REGULAR. Resource requirements for the productions are given below:
Product Profit/Contribution Assembly Plant Time Inspection
(Rs.) Time (Hrs.) (Hrs.) Time (Hrs.)
REGULAR 50 1.2 0.8 0.2
SUPER 75 1.6 0.9 0.2
There are 1600 hours of assembly time, 700 hours of plant time and 300 hours of
inspection time available per week. Regular customers will demand at least 150
units of the REGULAR type and 90 units of the SUPER type. Formulate the given
problem as a linear programming model.
[Ans.: Max. Z = 50x1 + 75x2, Sub to: 1.2x1 + 1.6x2  1600, 0.8x1 +0.9x2  700, 0.2x1
+0.2x2  300, x1  150, x2  90]
8. A 24 hour supermarket has the following minimal requirements for cashiers:
Period : 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time of day : 3-7 7-11 11-15 15-19 19-23 23-3
(24 hour
clock)
Minimum no. : 7 20 14 20 10 5
required
Period 1 follows immediately after period 6. A cashier works eight consecutive
hours, starting at the beginning of one of the six periods. To determine a daily
employee work sheet which satisfies the requirements with the least number of
personnel, formulate the problem as a linear programming problem.
[Ans.: Min. Z = x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 + x5 + x6, Sub to: x1 + x2  20, x2 + x3  14, x3 + x4 
20, x4 + x5  10, x5 + x6  5, x6 + x1  7, x1  7, xi  0, (i = 1, 2, …….., 6]
9. A city hospital has the following minimum requirements for nurses:
Clock Time (24 hours per day) Minimum number of nurses required
6 A.M. – 10 A.M. 2
10 A.M. – 2 P.M. 7
 Rahul (B.Com (H) SRCC
(Actuarial Science)

2 P.M. – 6 P.M. 15
6 P.M. – 10 P.M. 8
10 P.M. – 2 A.M. 20
2 A.M. – 6 A.M. 6
Nurses report to the hospital at the beginning of each period and work for 8
consecutive hours. The hospital wants to determine the minimum number of
nurses to be employed so that there will be sufficient number of nurses available
for each period. Formulate this as a Linear Programming Problem by setting up
appropriate constant, and objective function. Do not solve.
[Ans.: Min. Z = x1 + x2 + x3 + x4 + x5 + x6, Sub to: x1 + x2  7, x2 + x3  15, x3 + x4  8,
x4 + x5  20, x5 + x6  6, x6 + x1  2, xi (i = 1, 2, ….., 6)  0]

10. A person is interested in investing Rs. 50,00,000 in a mix of investments. The

investment choices and expected rates of returns on each one of them are:
Investment Expected Rate of Return
Mutual Fund A 0.12
Mutual Fund B 0.09
Money Market Fund 0.08
Government Bonds 0.085
Share X 0.16
Share Y 0.18
The investor wants at least 35 per cent of his investment in government
bonds. Because of the higher perceived risk of the two shares, he has
specified that the combined investment in these not to exceed Rs. 80,000. The
investor also has specified that at least 20 per cent of the investment should
be in the money market fund and that the amount of money invested in
shares should not exceed the amount invested in mutual funds. His final
investment condition is that the amount invested in mutual fund a should be
no more than the amount invested in mutual fund B. The problem is to decide
the amount of money to invest in each alternative so as to obtain the highest
annual total return. Formulate the problem as a linear programming
problem.
 Rahul (B.Com (H) SRCC
(Actuarial Science)

[Ans.: Maxi. Z = 0.12x1 + 0.09x2 + 0.08x3 + 0.0085x4 + 0.16x5 + 0.18x6, Sub to: x1 +
x2 + x3 + x4 + x5 +x6 = 50,00,000; x4 = 17,50,000; x5 + x6  80,000; x3  10,00,000; x5
+ x6  x1 + x2; x1  x2; x1, x2, x3, x4, x5, x6  0]
11. A mutual Fund Co. has Rs. 15 lakhs available for investment in Government
bonds, blue-chip stocks, speculative stocks and short-term bank deposits.
The annual expected return and risk factors are given below:
Invest Type Expected Return Expected Risk (0 to 100)
Government Bonds 9% 11
Blue-chip stocks 20% 25
Speculative stocks 35% 45
Short-term deposits 6% 5
The mutual fund is required to keep at least Rs. 2 lakhs in short-term deposits
and not to exceed an average risk factor of 45. Speculative bonds must be at the
most 15 percent of the total amount invested. How should the mutual fund invest
to maximize its total expected annual return? Formulate this as a linear
programming problem. Do not solve.
[Ans.: Max. Z = 0.09x 1 + 0.2x2 + 0.35x3 + 0.06x4 Sub to: x1 + x2 + x3 + x4  15, x4  2;
34x1 + 20x2 + 40x4  0, 0.15x1 + 0.15x2 – 0.85x3 + 0.15x4  0, x1, x2, x3, x4  0]

Graphical Method
12. Using graphic method, find the maximum value of : Z = 7x + 10y subject to
x + y  30,000
y  12,000
x  6,000
xy
x, y  0
[Ans.: Zmax = 2,46,000 at x = 18,000 and y = 12,000]
13. Solve the following linear programming problem by using graphical
method:
Maximize Z = 8x + 12y
Subject to
 Rahul (B.Com (H) SRCC
(Actuarial Science)

x+y=5
y2
x4
x, y  0
[Ans.: Zmax = 52 at x = 2 & y = 3]
14. Solve graphically:
Max Z = 50x + 30y
Subject to:
2x + y  18
x + y  12
3x + y  34
x, y  0
[Ans.: Zmax = 1020 at x = 0 & y = 34]
15. Solve the following L.P.P. by graphic method:
Maximize Z = 2.75x1 + 4.15x2
Subject to:
2x1 + 2.5x2  100
4x1 + 8x2  160
7.5x1 + 5x2  150
x1 , x 2  0
[Ans.: Zmax = 166 at x1 = 0 and x2 = 40]
Exceptional Cases
1) Unbounded Solution
2) Multiple Optimal Solutions
3) Infeasibility / No Solution
4) Redundant Constraint
1) Unbounded Solution
16. Solve the following LPP using Graphical Method:
Maximize Z=4X+3Y
Subject to:
3x + 2y  160
 Rahul (B.Com (H) SRCC
(Actuarial Science)

5x + 2y  200
x + 2y  80
x, y  0
[Ans.: Unbounded Solution]
17. Find, graphically the maximum of:
Z = 16x + 25y
Subject to:
2x + y  7
x+y5
2x + 5y  16
And x  0, y  0
[Ans.: Unbounded Solution]
2) Multiple Optimal Solutions
18. In linear programming, what is Multiple Solution Situation”. Solve the
following graphically and interpret the result:
Max.: Z = 4x + 3y
Subject to:
3x + 4y  24
8x + 6y  48
x5
y6
x, y  0

[Ans.: Max. Z = 24 at ( 247 , 247 )∨(5 , 43 ) ¿

19. Use the Graphical Method to solve the following LPP:
Maximize Z = 10x1 + 6x2
Subject to:
5x1 + 3x2  30
x1 + 2x2  18
x1 , x 2  0
[Ans.: Zmax = 60 at (6/7, 60/7) or at (6, 0)]
3) Infeasibility/ No Solution
 Rahul (B.Com (H) SRCC
(Actuarial Science)

20. In linear programming, what is a “Feasible Solution” and “Infeasible

Solution”? Solve the following by Graphic Method and Comment on the
result.
Min. Z = 3x1 + 2x2
Subject to:
-2x1 + 3x2  9
3x1 – 2x1  -20
x1 , x 2  0
[Ans.: No Solution]
21. Use the Graphical Method to solve the following LPP:
Maximize Z = 4x + 2y
Subject to: 2x + 3y  18
x + y  10
x, y  0
4) Redundant Constraint
22. What are “redundant constraints”? Which constraints are redundant in the
following with x1, x2  0:
4x1 + 3x2  12
-x1 + x2  1
x1 + x 2  4
x1 + x 2  6
[Ans.: Constraints 3 & 4]
More Examination Questions
23. A furniture dealer deals in only two items; table and chairs. He has Rs. 5,000
to invest and a space to store at the most 60 pieces. A table costs him Rs. 250
and a chair Rs. 50. He can sell a table at a profit of Rs. 50 and a chair at a
profit of Rs. 15. Assuming he can sell all the items that he buys, how should
he invest his money in order that he may maximize his profit? Use Graphical
Method.
[Ans.: Zmax = Rs. 1250; 50 chairs & 10 tables]
24. A carpenter has started a workshop in which he manufactures handcarts.
Each cart consists of a frame and two wheels. A frame uses 3 hours and a
 Rahul (B.Com (H) SRCC
(Actuarial Science)

wheel uses 2 hours of labour of which 90 hours per week are available. The
carpenter wants that he should manufacture at least 10 carts during a week.
The cost of a frame is Rs. 500 and that of a wheel is Rs. 200.
Formulate the above as a linear programming problem and find its optimum
solution.
[Ans.: Max. Z = 500x1 + 200x2, Sub to: 3x1 + 2x2 £ 90, x1  10; x2 = 2x1 x1, x2 ³ 0
Optimum Solution : Zmin = Rs. 9000 at x1 = 10 & x2 = 20]
25. The standard weight of a special purpose brick is 5 kg and it contains two
basic ingredients B1 and B2. B1 costs Rs. 5 per kg and B2 costs Rs. 8 per kg.
Strength considerations dictate that the brick contains not more than 4 kg of
B1 and minimum of 2 kg of B 2. Since the demand for the product is likely to
be related to the price of the brick, find the minimum cost of brick satisfying
the above conditions.
[Ans.: Zmin = Rs. 31 at x1 = 3 kg & x2 = 2 kg]
26. A finished product must weigh exactly 150 gm. The two raw materials used
in manufacturing the product are A with a cost of Rs. 2 per unit and B with a
cost of Rs. 8 per unit. At least 14 units of B and not more than 20 units of A
must be used. Each unit of A and B weigh 5 and 10 gm respectively. How
much of each type of raw material should be used for each unit of final
product to minimize the cost.
[Ans.: Zmin = 116 at X1 = 2 & X2 = 14]
27. A carpenter has 90, 80 and 50 running feet respectively of teak, plywood and
rosewood. The product A requires 2, 1 and 1 running feet and product B
requires 1, 2 and 1 running feet of teak, plywood and rosewood respectively.
If A would sell for Rs. 48 and B would sell for Rs. 40 per unit, how much of
each should he make and sell in order to obtain the maximum gross income
out of stock of wood?
(i) Give a mathematical formulation to this linear programming problem.
(ii) Use graphical method to solve the problem.
(iii) Indicate clearly the feasible region on graph paper.
[Ans.: Zmin = 2320 at x = 40 & y = 10]
 Rahul (B.Com (H) SRCC
(Actuarial Science)

28. A retired person wants to invest upto an amount of Rs. 30,000 in the fixed
income securities. His broker recommends investing in two bonds – bonds A
yielding 7% per annum and bond B yielding 10% per annum. After some
consideration, he decides to invest at the most Rs. 12,000 in bond B and at
least Rs. 6,000 in bond A. He also wants that the amount invested in bond A
must be at least equal to the amount invested in bond B. What should the
broker recommend if the investor wants to maximize his return on
investment? Solve graphically.
[Ans.: Zmax = Rs. 2460, Rs. 18,000 & Rs. 12,000 in bonds A & B respectively]