Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 exam•Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
In optimization problems, constraints are conditions or limitations that must be satisfied. They restrict the feasible solutions and affect how we maximize/minimize the objective function.
Related terms
Feasible Region/Solution Space: The set of all possible solutions that satisfy all given constraints.
Inequality Constraints: Restrictions expressed using inequality statements (e.g., x + y ≤ 10).
Equality Constraints: Restrictions expressed using equality statements (e.g., 2x - y = 5).