Question 1

The ____ report includes detailed information about the objective cell, variable cells, and
Constraints used in the Solver model.

Accepted Answer

The answer report in Solver provides detailed information about the objective cell, variable cells, and constraints used in the model.

Question 2

By default, Solver attempts to solve a problem ____ times before it stops working and determines that there is no feasible solution.

Accepted Answer

By default, Solver in Excel attempts to solve a problem 100 times before it stops and determines that there is no feasible solution.

Question 3

The ____ section of the answer report contains the cell reference, name, cell value, and formula for cells that have constraints.

Accepted Answer

The Constraints section of the answer report provides information about cells that have constraints, including the cell reference, name, cell value, and formula. The Objective Cell (Max) section lists the target or goal value for the optimization problem, while the Adjustable Cells section lists the cells that can be changed to achieve the objective. The Output section displays the final result of the optimization process.

Question 4

After you have identified the criteria that prevent a solution from being feasible, you have two choices: You can do nothing and declare that there is no solution to the problem, or you can ____ to create a feasible solution.

Accepted Answer

Adjusting the constraints is the best choice, as it allows you to modify the requirements or limitations that prevent a solution from being feasible, without having to add more data or constraints that may further complicate the problem. Running a summary report may provide useful insights about the problem, but it does not necessarily help in finding a feasible solution. Choosing to do nothing and declaring that there is no solution is not a viable option, as it assumes that the problem cannot be solved, which may not be true.

Question 5

A(n) ____ results when Solver cannot determine the combination of decision variables that satisfies all of the constraints.

Accepted Answer

An infeasible solution occurs when Solver cannot find a solution that satisfies all of the constraints. It means that the model is not capable of achieving the desired result, and some constraints may need to be adjusted or removed to reach a feasible solution.

Question 6

The _______________ function sums a series of products in ranges of identical sizes, called arrays, that are parallel to each other in a worksheet.

Accepted Answer

The correct function for this description is SUMPRODUCT, which calculates the sum of the products of corresponding values within arrays or ranges. SUMPROD, ADDPRODUCT, and ADDPROD are not valid Excel functions.

Question 7

In the Solver answer report, when the status is ____, the slack column indicates the difference between the final value and the constraint.

Accepted Answer

When the status is "not binding", it means that the constraint is not fully utilized and there is slack available. The slack column in the answer report indicates the amount of slack available for each constraint. Therefore, only choice B is correct as it corresponds to the situation described in the question.

Question 8

Before changing the Solver parameters to troubleshoot a problem in a Solver model, you might want to ____ so you can return to it later if necessary.

Accepted Answer

Saving the model as a baseline preserves the original version of the model and allows you to easily revert back to it if needed.

Question 9

When Solver produces an acceptable solution to the problem you identified, you can use the ____ option button in the Solver Results dialog box to permanently change the values in the worksheet to reflect the solution.

Accepted Answer

The "Keep Solver Solution" option button in the Solver Results dialog box allows you to permanently change the values in the worksheet to reflect the solution identified by Solver. This option saves you from the hassle of manually updating the values in the worksheet.

Question 10

If all of the constraints, which represent the availability of resources, have ____ values, the solution isn't the optimal solution that maximizes the available resources.

Accepted Answer

If all the constraints have slack values of zero, it means that all the resources are fully utilized by the solution. In this case, the solution may not be optimal and there may be other solutions that maximize the available resources. Therefore, A) slack is the correct choice.

Question 11

The ____ section of the answer report includes the cell reference, name, original value, and final value of the variable cells in a worksheet.

Accepted Answer

The variable cells section of the answer report provides information about the cells that were changed to generate the final solution. It includes their cell references, original values, and final values. The objective cell section (A) provides information about the cell being optimized, the constraints section (C) lists the constraints applied to the problem, and the output section (D) summarizes the final solution values.

Question 12

A ____ status indicates that a constraint has a final value that is equal to the value of the constraint.

Accepted Answer

A binding status indicates that a constraint has been satisfied by the optimal solution and the value of the constraint is equal to the value of the right-hand side. This means that any further changes to the variables in the problem will not affect the constraint.

Question 13

The ____ section of the answer report includes the objective cell reference and name, the original value in the cell, and the final value in the cell.

Accepted Answer

The Objective Cell (Max) section of the answer report includes the objective cell reference and name, the original value in the cell, and the final value in the cell, providing a summary of how the objective function value has changed from the original to the final solution in optimization problems.

Question 14

To change the number of times Solver attempts to solve a problem, click Options in the Solver Parameters dialog box, change the value in the ____ box, and then click the OK button.

Accepted Answer

The number of iterations determines how many times Solver attempts to solve the problem before stopping. Therefore, changing the value in the Iterations box is the appropriate option to modify the number of attempts.

Question 15

With Solver, you can copy the worksheet and solution to a new worksheet for troubleshooting. A better option, however, is to save the worksheet and the Solver model in a ____.

Accepted Answer

The answer of With Solver, you can copy the worksheet...

Question 16

Saving a Solver model saves the ____ that were used in the Solver model so you can load them later if necessary.

Accepted Answer

When you save a Solver model, it saves the parameters used in the model. These parameters include the target cell, the changing cells, the constraints, and the solution method. Saving Solver attributes or PivotTables is not a feature of Solver.

Question 17

There are three steps to troubleshoot an infeasible solution in Solver. Which of the following is NOT one of them?

Accepted Answer

"Try getting a solution from Goal Seek instead" is not one of the three steps to troubleshoot an infeasible solution in Solver. The correct steps are: 1) Correct any data-entry errors in the Solver Parameters dialog box, 2) Review the constraints to see if a policy constraint is the cause of the infeasibility, and 3) Try loosening a constraint value for each suspected problem.

Question 18

Of the three Solver reports, the ____ report is the most frequently used and most useful report for business users.

Accepted Answer

The Answer Report is the most frequently used and most useful report for business users because it provides the final solution of the Solver model, including the optimal values for the decision variables and the objective function value.

Question 19

____ reports are NOT one of the three reports Solver can produce.

Accepted Answer

The three reports that Solver can produce are Answer, Sensitivity, and Limit reports. Break-even reports are not one of the options that Solver provides.

Question 20

If Solver attempts the maximum number of iterations without the objective cell converging to an answer, the assumption is that the solution is ____.

Accepted Answer

When Solver attempts the maximum number of iterations without the objective cell converging to an answer, it means that the solution is unbounded. This means that there is no optimal solution that satisfies all the constraints.

Quiz 9: Enhancing Decision Making with Solver

The ____ report includes detailed information about the objective cell, variable cells, and Constraints used in the Solver model.