Operations research
ELI5
Unbounded LPs, Like You Are Five
Unbounded linear programs, like you are five
Quick check · tap an answer to continue
Lesson notes
Key points
- Imagine a sweet jar with no bottom: you keep grabbing sweets forever, and nobody ever says stop.
- An LP is unbounded when the objective improves forever along a feasible direction; in simplex, the entering column has no positive entry, so the ratio test fails.
Takeaway: No positive entry in the entering column means the LP is unbounded.
Quick check: In simplex, what signals that a maximisation LP is unbounded?
- All RHS values are zero
- Entering column has no…
- Two ratios tie in the ratio test
With no positive entry, no constraint limits the entering variable's increase.
Bottomless jarUnbounded LP
Lessons like this, for your syllabus.
Short narrated study videos written for your course, level and exam. Free to start.
Get lessons for your own syllabus