Question

A project consists of eight activities. The time required for each activity and its immediate predecessor(s) are given in the table below. 

If the project completion time using critical path method (CPM) is 15 days, then the value of X (in days) is _________.

Hint:

The critical path in CPM is the longest path through the project network, which determines the shortest possible project duration.

Answer 1

Correct Answer: 5

To solve this, we use the Critical Path Method (CPM). First, we need to calculate the earliest start times and latest start times for each activity, along with their dependencies. We begin by calculating the earliest start and finish times for each activity, and then identify the critical path. For the project to be completed in 15 days, the critical path must sum up to 15 days. Based on the dependencies, we calculate the time for activity G (X) such that the critical path is 15 days. After calculating using the CPM, we find: \[ X = 5 \, \text{days} \] Thus, the value of \( X \) is \( \boxed{5} \) days.