Linear Inequalities: Learning Objectives
Linear Inequalities: Learning Objectives
Linear Inequalities: Learning Objectives
LINEAR INEQUALITIES
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
One of the widely used decision making problems, nowadays, is to decide on the optimal
mix of scarce resources in meeting the desired goal. In simplest form, it uses several linear
inequations in two variables derived from the description of the problem.
The objective in this section is to make a foundation of the working methodology for the
above by way of introduction of the idea of :
development of inequations from the descriptive problem;
graphing of linear inequations; and
determination of common region satisfying the inequations.
UNIT OVERVIEW
3.1 INEQUALITIES
Inequalities are statements where two quantities are unequal but a relationship exists between
them. These type of inequalities occur in business whenever there is a limit on supply, demand,
sales etc. For example, if a producer requires a certain type of raw material for his factory and
there is an upper limit in the availability of that raw material, then any decision which he takes
about production should involve this constraint also. We will see in this chapter more about
such situations.
–3 –2 –1 0 1 2 3 –3 –2 –1 0 1 2 3
The values of the variables that satisfy an inequality are called the solution space, and is
abbreviated as S.S. The solution spaces for (i) x > 0, (ii) x d 0 are shaded in the above diagrams,
by using deep lines.
Linear inequalities in two variables: Now we turn to linear inequalities in two variables x and
y and shade a few S.S.
Let us now consider a linear inequality in two variables given by 3x + y < 6
y y y y
x x x x
{
6 – 3x
y=6
be found by drawing the graphs of the two lines y = 6
– 3x and y = 2 + x, and determining the region where
– 3x
both the inequalities hold. It is convenient to express
each equality with y on the left-side and the remaining
terms in the right side. The first inequality 3x + y d 6 is X
equivalent to y d 6 – 3x and it requires the value of y O
for each x to be less than or equal to that of and on 6 –
3x. The inequality is therefore satisfied by all points
B
lying below the line y = 6 – 3x. The region where these
points fall has been shaded in the adjoining diagram.
We consider the second inequality x – y d –2, and note that this is equivalent to y t 2 + x. It
requires the value of y for each x to be larger than or equal to that of 2 + x. The inequality is,
therefore, satisfied by all points lying on and above the line y = 2 + x.
The region of interest is indicated by an arrow on the line y = 2 + x in the diagram below.
For x = 0, y = 2 + 0 = 2;
For y = 0, 0 = 2 + x i.e, x = –2.
y= 2 + x
(0, 2)
(-2, 0)
x
0
By superimposing the above two graphs we determine the common region ACD in which the
pairs (x, y) satisfy both inequalities.
Y
A
y=2+x
X
D O
y = 6 – 3x
Example:
We now consider the problem of drawing graphs of the following inequalities
x t 0, y t 0, x d 6, y d 7, x + y d 12
and shading the common region.
Note: [1] The inequalities 3x + y d 6 and x – y d 32 differ from the preceding ones in that these
also include equality signs. It means that the points lying on the corresponding
lines are also included in the region.
[2] The procedure may be extended to any number of inequalities.
We note that the given inequalities may be grouped as follows :
x t 0, yt0
x
x d 6, y d 7, x + y d 12 y = x +2y (Objective fun )
Y Y
9=x
y =7
X
O
X
O
x > 0, x < 6 y > 0, y < 7
Y
x + y < 12
© The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
LINEAR INEQUALITIES 3.5
By superimposing the above three graphs, we determine the common region in the xy plane
where all the five inequalities are simultaneously satisfied.
(0, 7) (5,7)
(6, 6)
0,0
X
O (6,0)
This common region is known as feasible region or the solution set (or the polygonal convex
sets).
A region is said to be bounded if it can be totally included within a (very large) circle. The
shaded region enclosed by deep lines in the previous diagram is bounded, since it can be
included within a circle.
The objective function attains a maximum or a minimum value at one of the corner
points of the feasible solution known as extreme points of the solution set. Once these
extreme points (the points of intersection of lines bounding the region) are known, a
compact matrix representation of these points is possible. We shall denote the matrix of
the extreme points by E.
The coefficients of the objective function may also be represented by a column vector. We
shall represent this column vector by C.
The elements in the product matrix EC shows different values, which the objective function
attains at the various extreme points. The largest and the smallest elements in matrix EC
are respectively the maximum and the minimum values of the objective function. The row
in matrix EC in which this happens is noted and the elements in that row indicate the
appropriate pairing and is known as the optimal solution.
In the context of the problem under consideration.
X Y
ª0 0º
«0 7 »»
« ª 1º x
E «5 7 » ,C «2 » y
« » ¬ ¼
«6 0»
«¬ 6 6 »¼
ª0 0º ª0 u 1 0 u 2 º ª0º
«0 7 »» «0 u 1 7 u 2 » «14 »
« ª 1º « » « »
EC «5 7» « » «5 u 1 7 u 2 » «19»
« » ¬2¼ « » « »
«6 0» «6 u 1 0 u 2 » «6»
«¬ 6 6 »¼ «¬6 u1 6 u 2»¼ «¬18»¼
The given objective function viz. Z = x + 2y is maximum at the points (5, 7) present in the
third row of the matrix E. Thus the optimal solution is x = 5, y = 7, and the maximum
value of the objective function is 19.
We now list the steps to be followed under graphical solution to a linear programming problem.
Step 1 Determine the region that satisfies the set of given inequalities.
Step 2 Ensure that the region is bounded * . If the region is not bounded, either there are
additional hidden conditions which can be used to bound the region or there is no
solution to the problem.
Step 3 Construct the matrix E of the extreme points, and the column vector C of the
objective function.
Step 4 Find the matrix product EC. For maximization, determine the row in EC where
the largest element appears; while for minimization, determine the row in EC
where the smallest element appears.
Step 5 The objective function is optimized corresponding to the same row elements of
the extreme point matrix E.
Note: If the slope of the objective function be same as that of one side of feasible region,
there are multiple solutions to the problem. However, the optimized value of the
objective function remains the same.
xample:
A manufacturer produces two products A and B, and has his machines in operation for 24 hours
a day. Production of A requires 2 hours of processing in machine M 1 and 6 hours in machine M2 .
Production of B requires 6 hours of processing in machine M 1 and 2 hours in machine M2 . The
manufacturer earns a profit of ` 5 on each unit of A and ` 2 on each unit of B. How many units
of each product should be produced in a day in order to achieve maximum profit?
Solution:
Let x1 be the number of units of type A product to be produced, and x2 is that of type B
product to be produced. The formulation of the L.P.P. in this case is as below:
Maximize Z = 5x1 + 2x2
*
It is inconceivable for a practical problem to have an unbounded solution.
x1 > 0, x2 > 0
Let x1 = 0, so that x2 = 4
Let x2 = 0, so that x1 = 12
For the line 6 x1 + 2x2 = 24
Let x1 = 0, so that x2 = 12
Let x2 = 0, so that x1 = 4
The shaded portion in the diagram is the feasible region and the matrix of the extreme
points E1 , E2 , E3 and E4 is
x1 x2
ª0 0º E1
«0 4 »» E2
E «
«3 3» E3
« »
¬4 0¼ E4
ª5º x
The column vector for the objective function is C = « » x
¬2¼ 2
ª0 0º ª0 u 5 0 u 2º ª0º E1
«0 4 »» ª 5º «0 u 5 4 u 2 » «8» E2
EC « « » « »
«3 3 » «¬ 2»¼ «3 u 5 3 u 2» « 21» E3
« » « » « »
¬4 0¼ ¬4 u 5 0 u 2¼ ¬ 20¼ E4
Since 21 is the largest element in matrix EC, therefore the maximum value is reached at
the extreme point E 3 whose coordinates are (3,3).
Thus, to achieve maximum profit the manufacturer should produce 3 units each of both
the products A and B.
Example: A company produces two products A and B, each of which requires processing in
two machines. The first machine can be used at most for 60 hours, the second machine can be
used at most for 40 hours. The product A requires 2 hours on machine one and one hour on
machine two. The product B requires one hour on machine one and two hours on machine
two. Express above situation using linear inequalities.
Solution: Let the company produce, x number of product A and y number of product B. As
each of product A requires 2 hours in machine one and one hour in machine two, x number of
product A requires 2x hours in machine one and x hours in machine two. Similarly, y number
of product B requires y hours in machine one and 2y hours in machine two. But machine one
can be used for 60 hours and machine two for 40 hours. Hence 2x + y cannot exceed 60 and
x + 2y cannot exceed 40. In other words,
2x + y d 60 and x + 2y d 40.
Thus, the conditions can be expressed using linear inequalities.
Example: A fertilizer company produces two types of fertilizers called grade I and grade II.
Each of these types is processed through two critical chemical plant units. Plant A has maximum
of 120 hours available in a week and plant B has maximum of 180 hours available in a week.
Manufacturing one bag of grade I fertilizer requires 6 hours in plant A and 4 hours in plant B.
Manufacturing one bag of grade II fertilizer requires 3 hours in plant A and 10 hours in plant
B. Express this using linear inequalities.
Solution: Let us denote by x1, the number of bags of fertilizers of grade I and by x2, the number
of bags of fertilizers of grade II produced in a week. We are given that grade I fertilizer requires
6 hours in plant A and grade II fertilizer requires 3 hours in plant A and plant A has maximum
of 120 hours available in a week. Thus 6x1 + 3x2 d 120.
Similarly grade I fertilizer requires 4 hours in plant B and grade II fertilizer requires 10 hours in
Plant B and Plant B has maximum of 180 hours available in a week. Hence, we get the inequality
4x1 + 10x2 d 180.
Example: Graph the inequalities 5x1 + 4x2 t 9, x1 + x2 t 3, x1 t0 and x2t0 and mark
thecommon region.
Solution: We draw the straight lines 5x1 + 4x2 = 9 and x1 + x2 = 3.
Table for 5x1 + 4x2 = 9 Table for x1 + x2 = 3
x1 0 9/5 x1 0 3
x2 9/4 0 x2 3 0
x
3 1
=3
x
2
x
1
the following inequality and equality: =9
x
x2 = 0 1 2
x1
x + 2y = 4. 0
1 2 3 4
x – y d 3.
x1 = 0
Mark the common region.
For x + 2y = 4,
x 4 0
y 0 2
x
x+2y=4
For x – y = 3,
x–y=3
x 3 0
y 0 –3
For x + y = 4,
x 0 4
y 4 0
5x + 4y d100, 5x + y t 40,
3x + 5y d 75, x t 0, y t 0.
and mark the common region.
Solution:
x y
5x + 4y = 100 or, + =1
20 25
x y
3x + 5y = 75 or, + =1
25 15
x y
5x + y = 40 or, + =1
8 40
Plotting the straight lines on the graph paper we have the above diagram:
The common region of the given inequalities is shown by the shaded portion ABCD.
x + y t 1, 7x + 9y d 63,
y d 5, x d 6, x t 0, y t 0.
and mark the common region.
x 1 0 x 9 0
Solution: x + y = 1 ; y 0 1 ; 7x + 9y = 63, y 0 7 .
The given data can be expressed in the form of linear inequalities as follows:
2x + 3y t 14 (Requirement of grade A)
x + 4y t 12 (Requirement of grade B)
Moreover x and y cannot be negative, thus xt 0 and y t 0
Let us now draw the graphs of above inequalities. Since both x and y are positive, it is enough
to draw the graph only on the positive side.
The inequalities are drawn in the following graph:
For 2x + 3y = 14,
y
x 7 0
4.66
y 0 4.66
For x + 4y = 12,
x+4yt
x 0 12
y 3 0 2x+3yt
x
0
In the above graph we find that the shaded portion is moving towards infinity on the positive
side. Thus the result of these inequalities is unbounded.
EXERCISE: 3 (A)
Choose the correct answer/answers
1 (i) An employer recruits experienced (x) and fresh workmen (y) for his firm under the
condition that he cannot employ more than 9 people. x and y can be related by the
inequality
(a) x + y z 9 (b) x + y d 9 x t 0, y t 0 (c) x + y t 9 x t 0, y t 0 (d) none of these
(ii) On the average experienced person does 5 units of work while a fresh one 3 units of
work daily but the employer has to maintain an output of at least 30 units of work
per day. This situation can be expressed as
(a) 5x + 3y d30 (b) 5x + 3y >30 (c) 5x+3yt 30 x t 0, y t 0 (d) none of these
(iii) The rules and regulations demand that the employer should employ not more than 5
experienced hands to 1 fresh one and this fact can be expressed as
(a) y t x/5 (b) 5y d x (c) 5y t x (d) none of these
© The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
3.14 BUSINESS MATHEMATICS
(iv) The union however forbids him to employ less than 2 experienced person to each
fresh person. This situation can be expressed as
(a) x d y/2 (b) y d x/2 (c) y t x /2 (d) x ! 2y
(v) The graph to express the inequality x + y d 9 is
(a) (b)
o o
o
o
(a) (b)
o o
(c) (d)
o o
y
(viii)
10
9
8
7
6
5
L4
4
3
L3
2
1
x
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
L1 L2
2. A dietitian wishes to mix together two kinds of food so that the vitamin content of the
mixture is at least 9 units of vitamin A, 7 units of vitamin B, 10 units of vitamin C and 12
units of vitamin D. The vitamin content per g. of each food is shown below:
A B C D
Food I : 2 1 1 2
Food II: 1 1 2 3
Assuming x units of food I is to be mixed with y units of food II the situation can be
expressed as
(a) 2x + y d 9 (b) 2x + y t 30 (c) 2x + y t 9 (d) 2x + y t 9
x+yd7 x+yd7 x+yt7 x+yt7
x + 2y d 10 x + 2y t 10 x + y d 10 x +2 y t 10
2x +3 y d 12 x + 3y t 12 x + 3y t 12 2x +3 y t 12
x > 0, y > 0 x t 0, y t 0,
3. Graphs of the inequations are drawn below :
L1 : 2x +y = 9 L2 : x + y = 7 L3 : x+2y= 10 L4 : x + 3y = 12
The common region (shaded part) indicated on the diagram is expressed by the set of
inequalities
(a) 2x + y d 9 (b) 2x + y t 9 (c) 2x + y t 9 (d) none of these
x+yt7 x+yd7 x+yt7
x + 2y t 10 x +2 y t 10 x +2y t 10
x +3 y t 12 x + 3y t 12 x +3 y t 12
x t 0, yt 0
© The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
LINEAR INEQUALITIES 3.17
4. The common region satisfied by the inequalities L1: 3x + y t 6, L2: x + y t 4, L3: x +3y t 6,
and L4: x + y d 6 is indicated by
(a) (b)
o o
o o
(c) (d)
o
(ii) The region is expressed as
(a) x1 – x2 t 1
(b) x1 + x2 d 1
(c) x1 + x2 t 1
(d) none of these
o
o
(c) (d) none of these
7.
The common region indicated on the graph is expressed by the set of five inequalities
(a) L1 : x1 t 0 (b) L1 : x1 t 0 (c) L1 : x1 d 0 (d) None of these
L2 : x2 t 0 L2 : x2 t 0 L2 : x2 d 0
L3 : x1 + x2 d 1 L3 : x1+x2 t 1 L3 : x1+ x2 t 1
L4 : x1 – x2 t 1 L4 : x1–x2 t 1 L4 : x1–x2 t 1
L5 : –x1 + 2x2 d 0 L5 :– x1+2x2 d 0 L5 :– x1+2x2 d 0
8. A firm makes two types of products : Type A and Type B. The profit on product A is 4
.
20 each and that on product B is 4
. 30 each. Both types are processed on three machines
M1, M2 and M3. The time required in hours by each product and total time available in
hours per week on each machine are as follows:
Machine Product A Product B Available Time
M1 3 3 36
M2 5 2 50
M3 2 6 60
The constraints can be formulated taking x1 = number of units A and x2 = number of unit
of B as
(a) x1 + x2 d 12 (b) 3x1 + 3x2 t 36 (c) 3x1 + 3x2 d 36 (d) none of these
5x1 + 2x2 d 50 5x1 + 2x2 d 50 5x1 + 2x2 d 50
2x1 + 6x2 d 60 2x1 + 6x2 t 60 2x1 + 6x2 d 60
x1t 0, x2 t 0 x1t 0, x2 t 0
9. The set of inequalities L1: x1 + x2 d 12, L2: 5x1 + 2x2 d 50, L3: x1 + 3x2 d 30, x1 t 0, and x2 t
0 is represented by
(a) (b)
10. The common region satisfying the set of inequalities x t 0, y t 0, L1: x+y d 5, L2: x +2y d 8
and L3: 4x +3y t 12 is indicated by
(a) (b)
SUMMARY
Any linear function that involves an inequality sign is a linear inequality. It may be of
one variable, or, of more than one variable. Simple example of linear inequalities are
those of one variable only; viz., x > 0, x < 0.
The values of the variables that satisfy an inequality are called the solution space, and is
abbreviated as S.S. The solution spaces for (i) x > 0, (ii) x < 0 are shaded in the diagrams,
by using deep lines.
Linear inequalities in two variables may be solved easily by extending our knowledge of
straight lines.
© The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
3.22 BUSINESS MATHEMATICS
ANSWERS
1. (i) (b) (ii) (c) (iii) (a) (iv) (b) (v) (a) (vi) (c) (vii) (d) (viii) (b )
2. (d) 3. (c) 4. (a) 5. (a) 6. (i) (b) (ii) (c) (iii) (a)
7. (b) 8. (c) 9. (b) 10. (a)
(d) (0, 18), (12, 0), (4, 2), (0, 0) and (7, 6)
ANSWERS
1. (a) 2. (a)