I.

Formulation and Simplex method and Graphical method

Question 1:

You have just won a $10,000 prize. You are setting aside $4,000 for taxes and partying expenses, but
you have decided to invest the other $6,000. Upon hearing this news, two different friends have
offered you an opportunity to become a partner in two different entrepreneurial ventures, one
planned by each friend. In both cases, this investment would involve expending some of your time
next summer as well as putting up cash. Becoming a full partner in the first friend’s venture would
require an investment of $5,000 and 400 hours, and your estimated profit (ignoring the value of
your time) would be $4,500. The corresponding figures for the second friend’s venture are $4,000
and 500 hours, with an estimated profit to you of $4,500. However, both friends are flexible and
would allow you to come in at any fraction of a full partnership you would like. If you choose a
fraction of a full partnership, all the above figures given for a full partnership (money investment,
time investment, and your profit) would be multiplied by this same fraction.

Because you were looking for an interesting summer job anyway (maximum of 600 hours) you have
decided to participate in one or both friends’ ventures in whichever combination would maximize
your total estimated profit. You now need to solve the problem of finding the best combination.

a. Formulate a linear programming model for this problem.

b. Use the graphical method to solve this model. What is your estimated profit?

Question 2:

Web Mercantile sells many household products through an online catalog. The company needs
substantial warehouse space for storing its goods. Plans now are being made for leasing warehouse
storage space over the next 5 months. Just how much space will be required in each of these
months is known. However, since these space requirements are quite different, it may be most
economical to lease only the amount needed each month on a month-by-month basis. On the other
hand, the additional cost for leasing space for additional months is much less than for the first
month, so it may be less expensive to lease the maximum amount needed for the entire 5 months.
Another option is the intermediate approach of changing the total amount of space leased (by
adding a new lease and/or have and old lease expire) at lease once but not every month.

The space requirement and the leasing costs for the various leasing periods are as follows:

Month Required space (Sq. Ft.) Leasing period (months) Cost per Sq. Ft. Leased
1 30,000 1 $65
2 20,000 2 $100
3 40,000 3 $135
4 10,000 4 $160
5 50,000 5 $190
The objective is to minimize the total leasing cost for meeting the space requirements.

a. Formulate a linear programming model for this problem.

b. Solve this model by the simplex method.
Question 3:

Larry Edison is the director of the Computer Center for Buckly College. He now needs to schedule the
staffing of the center. It is open from 8 AM until midnight. Larry has monitored the usage of the center
at various times of the day, and determine that the following number of computer consultants are
required:

Time of day Minimum number of consultants required to be on duty

8 AM – noon 4
Noon – 4 PM 8
4 PM – 8 PM 10
8 PM – midnight 6
Two types of computer consultants can be hired: full-time and part-time. The full-time consultants work
for 8 consecutive hours in any of the following shifts: morning (8 AM – 4 PM), afternoon (noon-8 PM)
and evening (4 PM – midnight). Full-time consultants are paid $14 per hour. Part-time consultants can
be hired to work any of the four shifts listed in the above table. Part-time consultants are paid $12 per
hour. An additional requirement is that during every time period, there must be at least 2 full-time
consultants on duty for every part-time consultant on duty. Larry would like to determine how many
full-time and how many part-time workers should work each shift to meet the above requirements at
the minimum possible cost.

a. Formulate a linear programming model for this problem.

b. Solve this model by the simplex method.

Question 4:

Use the graphical method to solve the problem:

Maximize Z=2 x 1 + x 2 ,
subject ¿:
x2 ≤ 1 0
2 x1 +5 x 2 ≤ 6 0
x 1+ x2 ≤1 8
3 x 1+x 2 ≤ 4 4
¿
x1 , x2 ≥ 0
II. Simplex method – Big M – Two phase method
Question 1:
Consider the following problem:
Maximize Z=3 x1 +5 x 2+ 6 x3
subject ¿:
2 x1 + x 2 + x 3 ≤ 4
x 1+ 2 x 2 + x 3 ≤ 4
x 1+ x2 +2 x 3 ≤ 4
x 1+ x2 + x 3 ≤ 3
¿ x1 , x2 , x3 ≥ 0
a. Work through the simplex method in tabular form.
 b. Use a computer package based on the simplex method to solve the problem.
Question 2:
Consider the following problem
Minimize Z=2 x 1+3 x 2 + x 3 ,
subject ¿:
x 1+ 4 x 2 +2 x 3 ≥ 8
3 x 1+2 x 2 ≥ 6
¿ x1 , x2 , x3 ≥ 0
a. Reformulate this problem to fit our standard form for a linear programming model.
b. Using the Big M method, work through the simplex method step by step to solve the problem.
c. Using the two-phase method, work through the simplex method step by step to solve the
problem.
d. Compare the sequence of BF solutions obtained in parts (b) and (c). Which of these solutions are
feasible only for the artificial problem obtained by introducing artificial variables and which are
actually feasible for the real problem?
Question 3:
Consider the following problem:
Maximize Z=2 x 1 + x 2−4 x3 +3 x 4
subject ¿:
x 1+ x2 +3 x 3+ 2 x 4 ≤ 4
x 1−x 3+ x 4 ≥−1
2 x1 + x 2 ≤ 2
x 1+ 2 x 2 + x 3+2 x 4 =2
¿ x 2 , x 3 , x 4 ≥ 0 ( no nonnegative constraint for x 1 )
a. Reformulate this problem to fit our standard form for a linear programming model.
b. Using the Big M method, construct the complete first simplex tableau for the simplex method
and identify the corresponding initial (artificial) BF solution. Also identify the initial entering
basic variable and leaving basic variable.
c. Using the two-phase method, construct row 0 of the first simplex tableau for phase 1

III. Revised simplex method – Fundamental insight

Question 1:
Work through the revised simplex method step by step to solve the model given as follows:
Maximize Z=2 x 1−2 x 2+ 3 x 3
subject ¿:
−x 1+ x2 + x 3 ≤ 4(resource 1)
2 x1 −x2 + x 3 ≤ 2(resource 2)
x 1+ x2 +3 x 3 ≤ 12 ( resource3 )
¿ x1 , x2 , x3 ≥ 0
Question 2:
Consider the following problem:
Maximize Z=6 x 1+ x 2 +2 x3
subject ¿:
1
2 x1 +2 x 2+ x 3 ≤ 2
2
 3
−4 x1 −2 x 2− x 3 ≤3
2
1
x 1+ 2 x 2 + x3 ≤1
2
¿ x1 , x2 , x3 ≥ 0
Let x 4 , x5 and x 6 denote the slack variables for the respective constraints. After you apply the simplex
method, a portion of the final simplex tableau is as follows:
Basic Eq. Coefficient of: Right
variable Z x1 x2 x3 x4 x5 x6 side
Z (0) 1 2 0 2
x5 (1) 0 1 1 2
x3 (2) 0 -2 0 4
x1 (3) 0 1 0 -1
Use the fundamental insight to identify the missing numbers in the final simplex tableau. Show your
calculations.
Question 3:
Consider the following problem:
Maximize Z=2 x 1 + 4 x2 +3 x 3
subject ¿:
x 1+ 3 x 2 +2 x3 =20
x 1+ 5 x 2 ≥10
¿ x1 , x2 , x3 ≥ 0
Let A1 be the artificial variable for the first constraint. Let x 4 and A2 be the surplus variable and artificial
variable, respectively, for the second constraint.
You are now given the information that a portion of the final simplex is as follows:
Basic Eq. Coefficient of: Right
variable Z x1 x2 x3 A1 x4 A2 side
Z (0) 1 M +2 0 M
x1 (1) 0 1 0 0
x5 (2) 0 1 1 -1
Identify the missing numbers in the final simplex tableau. Show your calculations.

IV. Duality and sensitivity analysis

Question 1:
Consider the following problem
Maximize Z=2 x 1 +7 x 2+ 4 x 3
subject ¿:
x 1+ 2 x 2 + x 3 ≤ 10
3 x 1+3 x 2 +2 x 3 ≤10
¿ x1 , x2 , x3 ≥ 0
a. Construct the dual problem for this primal problem
b. Use the dual problem to demonstrate that the optimal value of Z for the primal problem cannot
exceed 25.
 c. Solve the dual problem graphically. Use this solution to identify the basic variables and the non-
basic variables for the optimal solution of the primal problem. Directly derive this solution, using
Gaussian elimination.
Question 2:
Consider the following problem:
Minimize Z=−x 1−3 x 2
subject ¿:
x 1−2 x2 ≤ 2
−x 1+ x2 ≤ 4
¿ x1 , x2 ≥ 0
a. Demonstrate graphically that this problem has an unbounded objective function
b. Construct the dual problem
c. Demonstrate graphically that the dual problem has no feasible solutions.
Question 3:
Maximize Z=−5 x 1+5 x 2+ 13 x 3 ,
subject ¿:
−x 1+ x2 +3 x 3 ≤ 20
12 x1 + 4 x 2+10 x 3 ≤ 90
¿ x j ≥ 0 ( j=1,2,3 ) .
If we let x 4 and x 5 be the slack variables for the respective constraints, the simplex method yields the
following final set of equations:
( 0 ) Z+2 x 3+ 5 x 4 =100
( 1 )−x 1 + x 2+3 x 3 + x 4=20
( 2 ) 16 x 1−2 x 3−4 x 4 + x 5=10
Now you are to conduct sensitivity analysis by independently investigating each of the following changes
in the original model. For each change, use the sensitivity analysis procedure to revise this set of
equations (in tableau form) and convert it to proper form from Gaussian elimination for identifying and
evaluating the current basic solution. Then test this solution for feasibility and for optimality. (Do not
reoptimize.)
a. Change the right-hand side of constraint 1 to b 1=30.
b. Change the right-hand side of constraint 2 to b 2=70
c. Change the right-hand sides to

d. Change the coefficient of x 3 in the objective function to c 3=8