Linear Programming Practice Problems Sheet No.

 Formulate the mathematical model for the following LP problems:

Problem No. 1:

The Westchester Chamber of Commerce periodically sponsors public service seminars

and programs. Currently, promotional plans are under way for this year’s program.
Advertising alternatives include television, radio, and newspaper. Audience estimates,
costs, and maximum media usage limitations are as shown.

Constraint Television Radio Newspaper

Audience per advertisement 100,000 18,000 40,000
Cost per advertisement $2,000 $300 $600
Maximum media usage 10 20 10

To ensure a balanced use of advertising media, radio advertisements must not exceed
50% of the total number of advertisements authorized. In addition, television should
account for at least 10% of the total number of advertisements authorized.
If the promotional budget is limited to $18,200, write the mathematical model to
determine how many commercial messages should be run on each medium to maximize
the total audience contact.

Problem No. 2:

The management of Hartman Company is trying to determine the amount of each of the
two products to produce over the coming planning period. The following information
concerns labor availability, labor utilization, and product profitability.

Product (hours/unit)
Labor-Hours
Department 1 2 Available
A 1.00 0.35 100
B 0.30 0.20 36
C 0.20 0.50 50
Profit $30.00 $15.00
contribution/unit

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Problem No. 3:

The employee credit union at State University is planning the allocation of funds for the
coming year. The credit union makes four types of loans to its members. In addition, the
credit union invests in risk-free securities to stabilize income. The various revenue-
producing investments together with annual rates of return are as follows:

Type of Loan/Investment Annual Rate of Return (%)

Automobile loans 8
Furniture loans 10
Other secured loans 11
Signature loans 12
Risk-free securities 9

The credit union will have $2,000,000 available for investment during the coming year.
State laws and credit union policies impose the following restrictions on the composition
of the loans and investments.

Risk-free securities may not exceed 30% of the total funds available for investment.
Signature loans may not exceed 10% of the funds invested in all loans (automobile,
furniture, other secured, and signature loans).
Furniture loans plus other secured loans may not exceed the automobile loans
Other secured loans plus signature loans may not exceed the funds invested in risk-free
securities.

Write the mathematical model to allocate the $2,000,000 to each of the loan/investment
alternatives to maximize total annual return.

Problem No. 4:

Ajax Fuels, Inc., is developing a new additive for airplane fuels. The additive is a mixture
of three ingredients: A, B, and C. For proper performance, the total amount of additive
(amount of A + amount of B + amount of C) must be at least 10 ounces per gallon of fuel.
However, because of safety reasons, the amount of additive must not exceed 15 ounces
per gallon of fuel. The mix or blend of the three ingredients is critical. At least 1 ounce of
ingredient A must be used for every ounce of ingredient B. The amount of ingredient C
must be greater than one-half the amount of ingredient A. If the costs per ounce for
ingredients A, B, and C are $0.10, $0.03, and $0.09, respectively, write the mathematical
model to find the minimum cost mixture of A, B, and C for each gallon of airplane fuel.

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Problem No. 5:

The Clark County Department schedules police officers for 8-hour shifts. The beginning
times for the shifts are 8:00 A.M., noon, 4:00 P.M., 8:00 P.M., midnight, and 4:00 A.M.
An officer beginning a shift at one of these times works for the next 8 hours. During
normal weekday operations, the number of officers needed varies depending on the time
of day. The department staffing guidelines require the following minimum number of
officers on duty:

Time of Day Minimum Officers on Duty

8:00 A.M. – noon 5
Noon- 4:00 P.M. 6
4: 00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M. 10
8:00 P.M. – Midnight 7
Midnight – 4:00 A.M. 4
4:00 A.M. – 8:00 A.M. 6

Determine the number of police officers that should be scheduled to begin the 8-hour
shifts at each of the six times (8:00 A.M., noon, 4:00 P.M., 8:00 P.M. midnight, and 4:00
A.M.) to minimize the total number of officers required.

Problem No. 6:

Seastrand Oil Company produces two grades of gasoline: regular and high octane. Both
gasolines are produced by blending two types of crude oil. Although both types of crude
oil contain the two important ingredients required to produce both gasolines, the
percentage of important ingredients in each type of crude oil differs, as does the cost per
gallon. The percentage of ingredients A and B in each type of crude oil and the cost per
gallon are shown.

Crude Oil Cost Ingredient A Ingredient B

1 $0.10 20% 60%
2 $0.15 50% 30%

Each gallon of regular gasoline must contain at least 40% of ingredient A, whereas each
gallon of high octane can contain at most 50% of ingredient B. Daily demand for regular
and high-octane gasoline is 800,000 and 500,000 gallons, respectively. Formulate the
mathematical model to find how many gallons of each type of crude oil should be used in
the two gasolines to satisfy daily demand at a minimum cost.

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Problem No. 7:

The Battery Park Stable feeds and houses the horses used to pull tourist-filled carriages
through the streets of Charleston’s historic waterfront area. The stable owner, an ex-
racehorse trainer, recognizes the need to set a nutritional diet for the horses in his care. At
the same time, he would like to keep the overall daily cost of feed to a minimum.

The feed mixes available for the horses’ diet are an oat product, a highly enriched grain,
and a mineral product. Each of these mixes contains a certain amount of five ingredients
needed daily to keep the average horse healthy. The accompanying table shows these
minimum requirements, units of each ingredient per pound of feed mix, and costs for the
three mixes.

Feed Mix
Diet Oat Product Enriched Grain Mineral Minimum Daily
Requirement (units) (units) product (units) Requirement
(Ingredient) (units)
A 2 3 1 6
B ½ 1 ½ 2
C 3 5 6 9
D 1 1½ 2 8
E ½ ½ 1½ 5
Cost/unit $0.09 $0.14 $0.17

In addition, the stable owner determines that 6 pounds of feed per day are the most that
any horse needs to function properly.

Problem No. 8:

A company imports goods at two ports: Philadelphia and New Orleans. Shipments of one
product are made to customers in Atlanta, Dallas, Columbus, and Boston. For the next
planning period, the suppliers at each port, customer demands, and shipping costs per
case from each port to each customer are as follows:

Customers
Port Atlanta Dallas Columbus Boston Port Supply
Philadelphia 2 6 6 2 5000
New Orleans 1 2 5 7 3000
Demand 1400 3200 2000 1400

Write the mathematical model for the above problem.

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Problem No. 9:

Tri-County Utilities, Inc. supplies natural gas to customers in three-country area. The
company purchases natural gas from two companies: Southern Gas and Northwest Gas.
Demand forecasts for the coming winter season are Hamilton County, 400 units; Butler
County, 200 units; and Clermont County, 300 units. Contracts to provide the following
quantities have been written: Southern Gas, 500 units; and Northwest Gas, 400 units.
Distribution costs for the counties vary, depending upon the location of the suppliers. The
distribution costs per unit (in thousands of dollars) are as follows:

To
From Hamilton Butler Clermont
Southern Gas 10 20 15
Northwest Gas 12 15 18

Problem No. 11:

Fowle Marketing Research has three project leaders available for assignment to three
clients. Find the assignment of project leaders to clients that will minimize the total time
to complete all projects. The estimated project completion times in days are as follows:

Clients
Project Leader 1 2 3
Terry 10 15 9
Carle 9 18 5
McClymonds 6 14 3