1

OPERATION RESEARCH QUESTION BANK PART-I

1. Formulate the dual of the following LPP:
Maximise : z= 2x1 + 3x2
Subject to Constraints:
-x1 + 2x2 ≤ 4
x1 + x2 ≤ 6
x1 + 3x2 ≤ 9
x1, x2 ≥ 0

2. From the following two persons zero sum game find the value of the game:

B
8 -3 7
A 6 -4 5
-2 2 -3

3. A project is characterized by activities A and G and the times required and costs for
regular programme for each activity are as follows:

Activity Name of Time (weeks)

Event Event Activity Regular

1 2 A 5
1 3 B 2
2 4 C 3
3 4 D 4
2 5 E 4
4 6 F 3
5 6 G 5

Draw a network for the problem using only time for regular programme activities. Trace
the critical path and state how long will it take to complete the project. What would be the
cost of completing this project in this fashion?

4 . Solve the following LPP by Simplex method:

Maximize : Z = 4X1 + 3X2
Subject to :

2X1 + X2 ≤ 72

X1 + 2X2 ≤ 48

X1 ≥ 0, X2 ≥ 0
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5. Solve the following Transportation Problem :

Origins Cost (Rs.)

A B C D Requirement (units)

P
2 3 5 1
Destination Q 7
7 3 4 6
R 9
4 1 7 2
Availability (units) 18
5 8 7 14
34

6. An automobile dealer wishes to put 4 repairmen to 4 different jobs. The repairers have
some different kinds of skills and exhibit different levels of efficiency from one job to
another. The dealer had estimated the number of man hours that are required for each job
man combination. This is given in the matrix form as follows:

Jobs
A B C D
1 5 3 2 8

2 7 9 2 6

3 6 4 5 7

4 5 7 7 8

7. A company manufactures four products X1, X2, X3, X4 each of which requires
resources I, II and III. The data available are as per table given below :

Products Total
availability
Resource X1 X2 X3 X4 (units)

I 1 1 1 1 12
II 6 4 2 1 90
III 2 4 9 10 70

Contribution
Per unit (Rs.) 3 4 6 10
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It is required to find the quantities of each product that would maximize the contribution

8. Solve the game whose payoff matrix is given by

Play B

1 3 1

Play A 0 -4 -3

1 5 -1

9. You are given the following information:

Estimated
Project Activities Name of Preceding
Time
Event To event the activity Activities
(months)
1 A
2 - 9
1 B
3 - 12
1 C
4 - 15
2 D
5 A 6
3 E
5 B 30
4 F
6 C 29
5 G
6 D,E 32

Construct a network diagram .

10
Time Estimates (in weeks )
Preceding
Activity Most
Activity Optimistic Pessimistic
Likely
A None 2 4 12
B None 10 12 26
C A 8 9 10
D A 10 15 20
E A 7 7.5 11
F B,C 9 9 9
G D 3 3.5 7
H E,F,G 3 5 5

(i) Determine the critical path

(ii) If a 30 weeks deadline is imposed, what is the probability that the project will
be finished within the time limit?
(iii) If the project manager wants to be 99% sure that the project is completed on
the scheduled date, how many weeks before that date should be start the
project work. (Area of normal curve between z = 0.41 is 0.1591 and the value
of z which covers 49% of area is 2.33
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11. Determine the optimum strategies and the value of game for the payoff matrix:

B
 2 −2 4 
A  −1 4 2 
 2 1 6 

12. Assume that the time estimates for an activity in a PERT network t0, tp and. tm are
4, 12 and 5 weeks respectively. What is the expected time of the activity and is
standard deviation?

13. Determine the value of the following game :

Player B
A1
-2 -4 Player A
3 8 A2

14. Using the graphical technique, find the optimal mixed strategies for both players A
and B and the value of the game for the following competitive situation.

Player B

B1 B2 B3 B4 B5
A1
5 -1 11 -3 13 Player A
A2
-3 9 -5 3 1

15. Consider the following project :

Predecessor Activity duration

Activity
Activity (days )
A - 15
B - 12
C A 7
D A 34
E B.C 28
F B.C 18
G F 14

(i) Construct the PERT chart

(ii) Determine the project Completion Time.
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16. Consider the following LP Problem:

Maximize z = 4x1 + 6x2 + 8x3

Subject to constraints
- 4x1 + 2x2 + 2x3 ≤ 20
3x2 + 6x3 ≥ 45

and x1, x2 ≥ 0

Solve this problem using the Simplex algorithm.

17. Assign the Typists to the Departments such that the total number of letters typed is
maximum ⊗ represents a situation where a given typist can be assigned to the
particular department.

X Y Z
A  9 3 10 
Typist B 
6 ⊗ 8 
C 10 2 9 

18. Consider the following projects activities :

Predecessor Activity
Activity
A -
B -
C A
D A
E B,C
F B,C
G F

Construct the PERT chart for the project.

19. For the PERT chart
Determine the project completion time
(i) What is the critical path?
(ii) What are the critical activities?

2 D 3
A 28 G
12 B E 5
1 4 7
20 10
14 C H
5 F 6
16
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20. Solve the game with the following pay-off matrix

Player B

B1 B2 B3 B4 B5

9 10 5 2 11 A1

7 1 -3 3 5 Player A A2

13 6 -1 12 10 A3

8 3 2 -3 4 A4

21. Consider the transportation problem shown in the tableau below:

To
Destination
From Supplier
K L M N
Source A - 6 5 8 300

B 15 21 24 7 200

C 9 10 12 11 300

Demand 200 300 100 200

Solve this problem so that the total cost of transporting good from all
Sources to destination is minimum.

22. Given the following payoff matrix, find the value of the game and strategies both the
players can play.
Player B

B1 B2 B3 B4

A2 3 2 4 0

A2 3 4 2 4

A3 4 2 4 0

A4 0 4 0 8

23. Using North west Corner rule and MODI solve the transportation problem with unit
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transportation costs, availability and demand as given below:

Availability
Destinations D1 D2 D3 D4 (in units)

Origin
01 6 2 8 9 80

02 12 6 16 12 80

03 4 6 18 4 120
Demand
(in units) 40 50 130 60 280

24. The following table gives data on Normal time, Crash time, Normal cost
and Crash cost of a project

Normal Crash Normal Crash

Activity Time Time Cost Cost
(in weeks) (in weeks) (in Rs.) (in Rs.)
1-2 3 2 300 450
2-3 3 3 75 75
2-4 5 3 200 300
2-5 4 4 120 120
3-4 4 1 100 190
4-6 3 2 90 130
5-6 3 1 60 110

(i) Draw the network and find out the critical path and the normal project
duration .
(ii) Find out the total float associated with each activity.
(iii) If the indirect costs are Rs. 100 per week, find out the optimum duration by
crashing and the corresponding projects costs.
(iv) With the crash durations indicated, what would be the minimum crash
duration possible, ignoring indirect costs?
25. Solve the following Transportation problem by taking the initial basic feasible
Solution by North West Corner Rule

From To 1 2 3 4 Supply
1 13 14 12 11 120
2 12 11 14 13 120
3 10 12 15 13 60
4 11 13 12 14 80
5 15 14 11 12 20
Demand 160 120 80 40 400
26. Obtain the optimal assignment from the following table:
I II III IV
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160 130 175 190 A

135 120 130 160 B

140 110 125 170 C

50 50 80 80 D

27. Determine the optimal strategies for both the players and the value of the game from
the following payoff matrix.
Player A
a1 a2 a3 a4
b1
4 4 4 4
Player B b2
3 4 2 4
b3
1 3 9 2
8. The details of a small project are
given below:
Draw the network
Activity A B C D E F G
Dependence - - - B,C A C E

Duration (in days) 9 4 7 8 7 5 10

Activity H I J K L

Dependence E D,F,H E I,J G

Duration (in days) 8 6 9 10 2

29. The owner of a Machine shop has four machinists available to assign to jobs for the
day. Four jobs are offered with an expected profit in rupees for each machinist on
each machinist on each job as follows:
Jobs
A B C D

1 62 78 50 101

Machinists 2 71 84 61 73

3 87 92 111 71

4 48 64 87 77

Determine the assignment of machinists to jobs that will result in a maximum

Profit.

30. To solve the following transportation problem. Obtain the initial solution
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by VAM method.

Destination
Source
1 2 3 4 Supply
A 7 3 8 5
160
B 5 2 6 11
180
C 3 6 5 2
100
Demand 40 100 120 180 440

31. A small project consisting of eight activities has the following characteristics :

Activity A B C D E F G H
Preceeding

Activity - - A A A B,C D E,F G

Time a 2 13 10 8 7 9 3 5 6
Estimates m 4 15 12 9 8 10 4 5 8
(in weeks) b 12 23 26 10 9 17 5 5 10

a- most optimistic, m- most likely, b- most pessimistic.

Draw PERT, find critical path and project completion time.

32. The following table gives the activities in a Project:

Activity Normal Crash Normal Crash

Time Time Cost Cost
(days) (Days) (Rs.) (Rs.)
1-2 20 17 600 720
1-3 25 25 200 200
2-3 10 8 300 440
2-4 12 6 400 700
3-4 5 2 300 420
4-5 10 5 300 600
4-6 5 3 600 900
5-7 10 5 500 800
6-7 8 3 400 700

Draw the activity network of the project.

(i) Find the total float and free float for each activity.
(ii) Using the above information crash the activity step by step until all the paths
are critical.

33. Solve the following Transportation Problem:

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Plants

P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 Demand
Warehouses W1 5 7 13 10 9 8 300

W2 8 6 14 13 22 15 200

W3 12 10 9 11 14 26 400

W4 5 18 12 14 20 7 600

W5 6 3 5 4 14 9 700

Supply 500 300 600 200 400 200 2,200

34. Find the initial basic feasible solution by Vogel’s approximation method find the cost
that allocation.

To Distribution Centre
Supply
From D1 D2 D3 D4

P1 2 3 5 1 7

Plants P2 7 3 4 6 10

P3 4 1 6 2 18

Demand 5 8 7 15

35. Find the optimum assignment for the following problem.

M/C

A B C D
7 4 8 5
1
4 6 10 6
Job 2
9 3 7 2
3
3 6 9 6
4

36. Draw the Network for the following project.

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Activity Immediate Predecessor activities
A Start
B Start
C Start
D A
E C
F A
G B,D,E

37. Solve the following transportation problem and obtain optimum solution.

To Availability
X Y Z W

From A 3 3 5 4 15
B 5 1 3 3 35
C 6 4 4 3 12
D 4 1 4 2 19
Demand 21 26 17 17

38. Draw the PERT NETWORK for the following case, Identify the critical path. Find the
expected project completion time.

Time Required in Days

Immediate
Activity Precedence
Requirement Optimistic Most
Pessimistic
likely
A - 3 4 5
B A 4 7 10
C B 2 7 12
D A 3 5 13
E D 1 5 9
F A 7 8 21
G F 1 7 7
H G 0 0 0
I C,E,H 10 10 10
J G 15 20 25
K L,I,J 2 7 12
L A 10 15 20

39. Solve the game given in the table below.

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 20 6 8 5
8 3 15 6 
A
13 8 19 4 
 
9 7 14 1 

40. Four computer programming hobs have to be assigned to four programmers. Time
taken by each programmer on each job is shown in the table below. Find an optimum
assignment.
Programmers

P1 P2 P3 P4
9 3 7 2 A
4 4 10 5 Job B
4 6 9 6 C
7 4 8 5
D
41. Draw the network for the following activities and precedence relationship.

Activity Immediate predecessor activity

A -
B -
C -
D A
E B
F B
G D,C,E
H F,G

42. Find the value of the following game:

Player B

Player A 2 1

-1 0

43. Determine the basic feasible solution and optimum solution for the following
transportation problem:
Destinations
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D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 Supply

P1 12 9 10 9 6 50

P2 3 5 5 7 7 40

P3 5 3 11 9 11 10

P4 8 2 10 11 2 80

40 40 20 60 20 180

44. Draw the network consisting of the following activities. Find the critical path, project
duration, variance of the critical path.

Duration (Days)
Activity t0 tm tp
1-2 4 6 28
1-4 3 9 15
2-3 5 7 15
2-5 1 4 7
3-6 3 7 11
4-5 2 4 6
4-7 5 11 17
5-6 6 12 30
6-8 2 5 14
7-8 2 5 8

45. Apply North-West corner rule to the following TP

To
D1 D2 D3 Availability

01 2 3 4 10

From 02 1 2 3 18

03 5 4 3 12

Requirement 15 20 5
46. Draw an arrow diagram to represent the following project.

A B C D E F G H I J K
Activity
Immediate
- A - B,C C G,H D B F G E,I,J
Predecessor :

47. Solve the following transportation problem.

To
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W1 W2 W3 W4 Capacity

F1 5 7 3 8 300

From F2 4 6 9 5 500

F3 2 6 4 5 200

Requirement 200 300 400 100 1000

48. The following table gives the jobs of a network along with their time estimates.

Duration days

Job Most
Optimistic Prssimistic
i-j likely
1-2 3 6 15
1-6 2 5 14
2-3 6 2 30
2-4 2 5 8
3-5 5 11 17
4-5 3 6 15
6-7 3 9 27
5-8 1 4 7
7-8 4 19 28
Draw the project network and find the critical path.

49. Use Vogel’s Approximation method to obtain an initial basic feasible solution.

Cost of Transport

D1 D2 D3 D4 Availability
01 5 8 3 6 30
02 4 5 7 4 50
03 6 2 4 6 20
Requirement 30 40 20 10 100

50. A project consists of 9 jobs the following precedence relations and estimates of time.
Draw a project network.
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Job A B C D E F G H I
D,
Predecessor - - A,B A,B B C,F D,E G,H
E
Time (day) 15 10 10 10 5 5 20 10 15

51. (i) Explain a two person zero-sum game with examples.

(ii) What are the different steps in managerial decision making? Explain with an
example.

52. A project consists of the following 12 jobs. Draw a project Network and
determine the critical path.

Job 1-2 2-3 2-4 3-4 3-5 4-6 5-8 6-7 6-10 7-9 8-9 9-10
Duration 2 7 3 3 5 3 5 8 4 4 1 7

53. The following table gives the activities of a construction project and duration (in days )

Activity 1-2 1-3 2-3 2-4 3-4 4-5

Duration 20 25 10 12 6 10
Draw the network diagram and find the critical path.
54. Solve the following transportation problem with unit transportation costs given as
under:
Destinations

Origins D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
01 40 25 22 33 100

02 44 35 30 30 30

03 38 38 28 30 70

Demand 40 20 60 30

55. A project has the following characteristics and time estimates. Optimistic time
(a) Most likely time (m), Pessimistic time (b) Construct a PERT network. Find the
critical path.
Activity 1-2 2-3 2-4 3-5 4-5 4-6 5-7 6-7 7-8 7-9 8-10 9-10
a 1 1 1 3 2 3 4 6 2 4 1 3

b 5 3 5 5 4 7 6 8 6 8 3 7

m 1.5 2 3 4 3 5 5 7 4 6 2 5

56. The following table gives the activities of a project and their duration in days.
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Activity 1-2 1-6 2-3 2-4 3-5 4-5 6-7 5-8 7-8
Duration 7 6 14 5 11 7 11 4 18

57. Solve the following transportation problem, with given cost coefficients:
Destination
D1 D2 D3 D4 Availabilities
01 15 10 17 18 20

Origins 02 16 13 12 13 60

03 12 17 20 11 70
Requirements 30 30 40 50

58. (i) Explain the use of probability in Decision theory.

(i) Explain, with suitable illustrative examples, decision making under uncertainty

59. The following table gives the activities of construction project and duration.
Activity 1-2 1-3 1-4 2-4 2-5 3-4 4-5
Duration (days) 3 2 6 5 7 2 4
60. Solve the following transportation problem, with the following costs of transportation,
demand and supply :
Destination
D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 Supply

01 10 15 20 20 40 50

02 20 40 15 30 30 100

03 30 35 40 55 25 150
Demand 25 115 60 30 70
61. A network diagram with PERT time estimates, is given below. Find the critical path
and also determine the project completion time and is variance .
6-12-30
3 5-11-17
2

2-5-8
3-6-15 5 1-4-7

4
1 3-6-15 8

2-5-14
6
7 4-19 -28
3-9-27

62. Discuss the solution of the following game, with pay-off for player A

Player B
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8 2 9 5 
 6 5 7 18 
Player A  
7 3 −4 10 
 
 

63. Solve the following transportation problem with the following information on costs,
supply and demand:
Destination
D1 D2 D3 D4 Supply
01 2 2 2 1 3

Origins 02 10 8 5 4 7

03 7 6 6 8 5

Demand 4 3 4 4

Prepared by
Prof. L .M. Alphonse Ligori