ITPEC FE Morning October 2022 Question 51

For every critical path activity, the early start date equals the late start date — the activities on the critical path have no float.

The critical path is the longest chain of dependent activities from start to finish, and its length is the project duration. Total float is the amount an activity can slip without delaying the project: late start minus early start. Along the critical path it is zero, so each activity must start on its earliest possible date, and any delay to it delays the whole project.

Answer (c)

Why not others:

• •(a) — the critical path is one chain in which each activity waits for its predecessor, so its activities run one after another, not in parallel with each other
• •(b) — non-zero total float marks an activity that is not critical; critical activities have zero float
• •(d) — the critical path is the longest path, not the path through the longest activity: a single 10-day activity on a path with float loses to three 5-day activities in series totalling 15 days

Key rule: Total float = late start − early start; the activities with zero float form the critical path, and only shortening those shortens the project.

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