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3. Divisibility (Continuity)
This assumption means that decision variables can take any value, including fractions,
making the LP model continuous. In real-world applications, this may involve producing
fractional units of products or using fractions of resources. For example, it might suggest
producing 12.5 units of a product, even though in reality, production might have to be in
whole numbers. However, on a large enough scale, rounding up or down won't significantly
impact the results
4. Certainty
The certainty assumption requires that all parameters in the LP model (such as profit per
unit, resource availability, or labor requirements) are known with complete accuracy and
will not change. In reality, however, factors like demand, supply, and costs might fluctuate.
Linear programming assumes that the input data is fixed, which may limit its applicability in
uncertain environments
5. Non-Negativity
Linear programming assumes that all decision variables must have non-negative values,
meaning that you can't produce a negative quantity of a product or resource. This reflects
the realistic scenario that output, whether in terms of goods or resources, can't be less than
zero
6. Finite Choices
LP also assumes that the decision-maker has a finite number of choices. This is typically true
for most real-world problems, where businesses or individuals can only choose from a
limited number of products, resources, or activities
Practical Example:
Imagine a company that produces two products, X and Y, and wants to maximize its profits.
The company has a limited supply of resources (like raw materials, labor hours, etc.). The
goal of linear programming is to find how much of each product the company should
produce to achieve the highest profit while staying within resource constraints.
For this problem, you would define:
• Objective Function: Maximize profit from X and Y.
• Constraints: Limitations on resources like labor, materials, etc.
• Decision Variables: Amounts of products X and Y to produce.
The solution is the optimal combination of products X and Y that maximizes profit without
violating the resource constraints. Linear programming's assumptions allow this model to be
solved using straightforward techniques, but in reality, some assumptions like
proportionality and certainty may need adjustments to fit complex scenarios