LESSON 6

LINEAR PROGRAMMING

Overview:
In this lesson, students will learn the methods required to solve and graph
systems of equality. They will develop these skills further by using production-
related problems to address real-life issues (minimize cost and/or maximize profit)
under different limitations.

Peace Concept: Encourage students to respect others, especially in the context

of of social and cultural differences.

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this lesson, the students can:
1. graph the feasible region;
2. represents constraints by equation or inequalities, and by system of
equations and/or inequalities;
3. solve linear programming problems; and
4. apply linear programming in solving real life situation problems.

Materials Needed:
 Modules (hard and soft copy)
 Devices (laptop and mobile phone)
 Social Media Platforms (Moodle, Google classroom, Facebook, YouTube
and etc.).
 Graphing paper
 Pencil/ballpen and Ruler

Duration: 3 hours

Learning Contents:

6.1 The Linear Programming

Linear Programming is a mathematical technique used to find the

optimal allocation of resources in the military, business, telecommunications, and
other fields.
To solve linear programming problems, we must maximize (or minimize) a
function (called the objective function) subject to the given restrictions on its

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variables. These restrictions (called constraints) are usually given as a system
of linear inequalities.

EXAMPLE 1. Suppose that the annual profit (in millions of pesos) earned by a
business is given by the equation P = 2x + y and that x and y are
subject to the following constraints:
3x + y ≤ 120
x + y ≤ 60
x ≥ 0 and y ≥ 0

Solution:
To find the maximum profit P that can be earned by business, we solve
the system of inequalities as shown in the figure 13(a) and find the coordinates of
each corner point of the region . This region is often called feasibility region.
We can then write the profit equation:
P = 2x + y in the form of y = - 2x + P
The equation is the equation of a set parallel lines, each with a slope of -2
and a y y-intercept of P. The graph of for these values of P is show in red lines in
Figure 13(b). to find the red line that passes through region R and provides the
maximum value of P, we locate the red line with the greatest y-intercept. Since
the line has the greatest y-intercept and intersect region at the corner point (30,
30), the maximum value of (subject to the given constraints) is
P = 2x + y = 2(30) + 30 = 90

Thus, the maximum profit that can be earned is Php. 90 million. This profit
occurs when x = 30 and y = 30.

6.2 MAXIMUM OR MINIMUM OF AN OBJECTIVE FUNCTION

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6.2 MAXIMUN OR MINIMUM OF AN OBJECTIVE FUNCTION

If a linear function, subject to the constraints of a system of linear

inequalities in two variables, attains a maximum or a minimum value, that value
will occur at a corner point or along at the entire edge of the region that
represent the solution of the system.

A system of linear inequalities in two variables consists of at least two

linear inequalities in the same variables. The solution of linear inequality is the
ordered pair (x, y) that is a solution to all inequalities in the system and the graph
of the linear inequality is the graph of all solutions of the system. If the two linear
inequalities do not intersect each other, then the system has NO SOLUTION or
NO FEASIBLE REGION. The feasible region is the bounded by the system or the
area of the region below the given inequalities.

EXAMPLE 2. If P = 2x + 3y, find the maximum value of P subject to the following

constraints: x+y≤4
2x + y ≤ 6
x ≥ 0, y ≥ 0
Solution:
We solve the system of inequalities to find the feasibility region shown in
figure 6.1. The coordinates of each corner pints are (0, 0), (3, 0), (0, 4), and (2, 2).

Since the maximum value of will

occur at a corner of the region R , we
substitute the coordinates of each
corner point into the object function
and find the one that gives the
maximum value.

Point P = 2x + 3y
(0, 0) P = 2(0) + 3(0) = 0
(3, 0) P = 2(3) + 3(0) = 6
(2, 2) P = 2(2) + 3(2) = 10
Fig. 6.1
Figure 13.1
(0, 4) P = 2(0) + 3(4) = 12
Thus, the maximum value occurs when
Thus, the maximum value occurs when x = 2 and y = 2.

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Strategy for Solving Linear Programming Problems:

1. Find the objective function and constraints.

2. Find the feasibility region by graphing the system of inequalities and
identifying the coordinates of its corner points.
3. Find the maximum (or minimum) value by substituting the coordinates
of the corner points into the objective function.

EXAMPLE 3.
An accountant prepares tax returns for individual and for small businesses.
On average, each individual requires 3 hours of her time and 1 hour of computer
time. Each business return requires 4 hours of her time and 2 hours of computer
time. Because of other business considerations, her time is limited to 240 hours,
and the computer is limited to 100 hours. If she earns a profit of Php. 80.00 on
each individual return and a profit of Php. 150. 00 on each business return, how
returns of each type should she prepare to maximize her profit.

Solution:
Let us make a table for the given information.
Individual tax Business tax Time available
return return
Accountant’s time 3 4 240 hours
Computer time 1 2 100 hours
Profit P80.00 P150.00

Find the objective function and constraints.

Let x represents the number of individual tax returns and for the number
of business tax returns to be completed. Take note that each of the x individual
tax return will earn Php. 80.00 profit while each y business tax return will earn
Php. 150.00. Hence, the total profit is given by the equation

P = 80x + 150y (Objective Function)

We know that the number of each return, either individual or business,

cannot be negative. Thus, x ≥ 0 and y ≥ 0.

Every x individual tax return takes 3 hours of the accountant’s time and
each y business tax return needs 4 hours of her time, that is (3x + 4y) hours she
will be working. This amount must be less than or equal to her 240 hours

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available time. Thus, the inequality 3x + 4y ≥ 240 is a constraint to the
accountant’s time.

Moreover, since every individual tax return takes 1 hour of computer time
and each business tax return needs 2 hours of its time, that is () hours the
computer will be working. This amount must be less than or equal to the
computer available time of 100 hours. Thus, the inequality is a constraint to the
accountant’s time.

Constraints:

Point P = 80x + 150y

(0, 0) P=0+ 0=0
(80, 0) P = 80(80) = 6,400
(40, 30) P = 80(40) + 150(30) = 3,650
(0, 50) P = 0 + 150(50) = 7,700

From the table, we can see that the accountant will earn a maximum profit
of ₱7,700 if she prepares 40 individual returns and 30 business returns.

Learning Activity:
Group Activity. Write the objective function and the inequalities that
describe the constraints in each problem. Graph the feasibility region, showing
corner points. Then find the maximum or minimum value of the objective function.

Group 1: Two woodworkers, Tom and Carlos, get ₱1000 for making a table and
₱800 for making a chair. On average, Tom must work 3 hours and
Carlos 2 hours to make a chair. Tom must work 2 hours and Carlos 6
hours to make a table. If neither wishes to work more than 42 hours per

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 week, how many tables and how many chairs should they make each
week to maximize their income? Find the maximum income.

Group 2: Two artists, Nina and Rob, make yard ornaments. They get ₱80 for
each wooden snowman they make and ₱64 for each wooden Santa
Claus. On average, Nina must work 4 hours and Rob 2 hours to make a
snowman. Nina must work 3 hours and Rob 4 hours to make a Santa
Claus. If neither wishes to work more than 20 hours per week, how
many of each ornament should they make each week to maximize their
income? Find the maximum income.

Group 3: An electronics store manager stocks from 20 to 30 IBM-compatible

computers and from 30 to 50 Apple computers. There is room in the
store to stock up to 60 computers. The manager receives a commission
of ₱50 on the sale of each IBM-compatible computer and ₱40 on the
sale of each Apple computer. If the manager can sell all of the
computers, how many should she stock to maximize her commissions?
Find the maximum commission.

Group 4: A diet requires at least 16 units of vitamin C and at least 34 units of

vitamin B complex. Two food supplements are available that provide
these nutrients in the amounts and costs shown in the table. How much
of each should be used to minimize the cost?

Learning Evaluation:

Solve the following problems.

1) A high school band trip will require renting buses and trucks to transport no
fewer than 100 students and 18 or more large instruments. Each bus can
accommodate 40 students plus three large instruments; it costs ₱350 to
rent. Each truck can accommodate 10 students plus 6 large instruments
and costs ₱200 to rent. How many of each type of vehicle should be rented
for the cost to be minimum? Find the minimum cost.

2) Does the objective function attain a maximum at the corners of a region

defined by following nonlinear inequalities? Attempt to maximize on the
region and write a paragraph on your findings.

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 3) Minimize the objective function of the previous problem.

4) Maximize subject to the following constraints.

References:

Aufman, R. et. al. (2018). Mathematics in the Modern World. Rex Book Store Inc.
Sampaloc, Manila, Philippines.

Polya, G. (1957). How to Solve It. 2nd Edition. Princeton University Press.

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