Question

A variable that has no physical meaning, but is used to obtain an initial basic feasible solution to the linear programming problem is referred to as:

• A. Basic variable
• B. Non-basic variable
• C. Artificial variable
• D. Basis

Answer 1

Answer:

C. Artificial variable

The simplex method is used to solve linear programming problems. It involves introducing variables such as slack, surplus, basic, and non-basic variables. Artificial variables are introduced to obtain an initial basic feasible solution. These variables have no physical meaning in the original problem. The simplex method proceeds systematically from an initial feasible solution to an optimal solution by improving in every iteration. Constraints should be non-negative and inequalities should be converted to equalities with the help of slack or surplus variables.