Linear Programming
Linear Programming
Now a natural question arises: ‘Is it always possible to translate a statement problem in the
form of an equation?
For example, the height of all the students in your class is less than 160 cm.
Your classroom can occupy atmost 60 tables or chairs or both. Here we
get certain statements involving a sign ‘<’ (less than), ‘>’ (greater than), ‘’ (less than
or equal) and (greater than or equal) which are known as inequalities.
In this Chapter, we will study linear inequalities in one and two variables. The
study of inequalities is very useful in solving problems in the field of science, mathematics,
statistics, economics, psychology, etc.
Inequalities
Let us consider the following situations:
(i) Ravi goes to market with ` 200 to buy rice, which is available in packets of 1kg. The
price of one packet of rice is ` 30. If x denotes the number of packets of rice, which he
buys, then the total amount spent by him is ` 30x. Since, he has to buy rice in packets
only, he may not be able to spend the entire amount of ` 200. (Why?) Hence
30x < 200
... (1)
Clearly the statement (i) is not an equation as it does not involve the sign of equality.
(ii) Reshma has ` 120 and wants to buy some registers and pens. The cost of one
register is ` 40 and that of a pen is ` 20. In this case, if x denotes the number of
registers and y, the number of pens which Reshma buys, then the total amount spent by
her is ` (40x + 20y) and we have
40x + 20y 120
Since in this case the total amount spent may be upto ` 120. Note that the statement (2)
consists of two statements
40x + 20y < 120 ... (3)
and 40x + 20y = 120 ... (4)
Statement (3) is not an equation, i.e., it is an inequality while statement (4) is an equation.
Definition 1 Two real numbers or two algebraic expressions related by the symbol
‘<’, ‘>’, ‘’ or ‘’ form an inequality.
Statements such as (1), (2) and (3) above are inequalities.
3 < 5; 7 > 5 are the examples of numerical inequalities while
x < 5; y > 2; x 3, y 4 are some examples of literal inequalities.
3 < 5 < 7 (read as 5 is greater than 3 and less than 7), 3 < x < 5 (read as x is greater
than or equal to 3 and less than 5) and 2 < y < 4 are the examples of double inequalities.
Some more examples of inequalities are:
ax + b < 0 ... (5)
ax + b > 0 ... (6)
ax + b 0 ... (7)
ax + b 0 ... (8)
ax + by < c ... (9)
ax + by > c ... (10)
ax + by c ... (11)
ax + by c ... (12)
ax2 + bx + c 0 ... (13)
ax2 + bx + c > 0 ... (14)
Inequalities (5), (6), (9), (10) and (14) are strict inequalities while inequalities (7), (8),
(11), (12), and (13) are slack inequalities. Inequalities from (5) to (8) are linear
inequalities in one variable x when a 0, while inequalities from (9) to (12) are linear
inequalities in two variables x and y when a 0, b 0.
Inequalities (13) and (14) are not linear (in fact, these are quadratic inequalities
in one variable x when a 0).
You will recall that while solving linear equations, we followed the following rules:
Rule 1 Equal numbers may be added to (or subtracted from) both sides of an equation.
Rule 2 Both sides of an equation may be multiplied (or divided) by the same non-zero
number.
In the case of solving inequalities, we again follow the same rules except with a
difference that in Rule 2, the sign of inequality is reversed (i.e., ‘<‘ becomes ‘>’, ’
becomes ‘’ and so on) whenever we multiply (or divide) both sides of an inequality by
a negative number. It is evident from the facts that
3 > 2 while – 3 < – 2,
– 8 < – 7 while (– 8) (– 2) > (– 7) (– 2) , i.e., 16 > 14.
Thus, we state the following rules for solving an inequality:
Rule 1 Equal numbers may be added to (or subtracted from) both sides of an inequality
without affecting the sign of inequality.
Rule 2 Both sides of an inequality can be multiplied (or divided) by the same positive
number. But when both sides are multiplied or divided by a negative number, then the
sign of inequality is reversed.