Question

When planning his crops, Farmer Joe knows that his 5 acres can support corn and strawberries. He wants to make $5,500 from his crops. He can make $1,000 per acre of corn (the variable c) and $1,500 per acre of strawberries (the variable s). Which equation below would be a constraint in his system of equations?

Answer 1

This can be solved using the system of equations:

5500 = 1000c + 1500s
5 = c + s

As the first equation can have different combinations, it is the second equation that defines just how much acres or corn or strawberries(or mathematically, it defines the values of c or s in the first equation) there are. Therefore, the equation " 5 = c + s" is the constraint.