ASSIGNMENT: Critical Path

Questions: In the country of Four, there are four cities, A, B, C and D. B is to the East of A, C is to the South
of B, D is to the West of C, and A is to the North of D. The Government of Four is planning to connect these
four cities by road such that it is possible for a person to go from a city to any of the other three cities. At
the same time, the government wants to ensure that the total road length is minimum. The distance
between A to B and B to C, C to D and D to A are all equal to 10 kms. What should be the total length of the
road?
1. 26.64 kms 2. 27.32 Kms 3. 28.30 kms 4. 30 kms 5. 36 kms

Question: Two days (Thursday and Friday) are left for campaigning before a major election, and the city
administration has received requests from five political parties for taking out their processions along the
following routes
Congress: A–C–D–E
BJP: A–B–D–E
SP: A–B–C–E
BSP: B–C–E
CPM: A–C–D
Street B - D cannot be used for a political procession on Thursday due to a religious procession. The district
administration has a policy of not allowing more than one procession to pass along the same street on the
same day. However, the administration must allow all parties to take out their processions during these
two days.

Question 1: Congress procession can be allowed

a. Only on Thursday
b. Only on Friday.
c. On either day.
d. Only if the religious procession is cancelled.

Question 2: Which of the following is NOT true?

a. Congress and SP can take out their processions on the same day.
b. The CPM procession cannot be allowed on Thursday.
c. The BJP procession can only take place on Friday.
d. Congress and BSP can take out their processions on the same day.

Ajay would do five tasks: A, B, C, D and E; starting at 9 am in the morning. A is the first task and takes two
hours. B can be done after A is complete and requires 1 hour. Work on C which would take 1 hour can start
only after A and B are complete. Ajay can do task D along with B and C and would take 3 hours for that.
Activity E with duration of 1 hour can start on completion of A, B, C and D.

Question 1: What is the earliest time when Ajay would complete C?

A.11 am B. 12 noon C. 1 pm D. 2 pm
Question 2: If Ajay takes 2 hours for B and completes other preceding tasks without delay, when can E
start?
A.12 noon B. 3 pm C. 2 pm D.1 pm
Question 3: What is the earliest time when Ajay can complete all tasks?
A.4 pm B.3 pm C. 2 pm D. 1 pm

Question: 1200 vehicles travel everyday from point A to point Z on a network of one way roads as shown in
the diagram below. Points B, C, M, D and E are junctions in the network. The number adjacent to the ray
depicting each road stands for the cost (in rupees) of travelling on that road. Each vehicle takes the path of
least cost from A to Z. If two or more paths have the same cost, then the vehicles are distributed equally
on those paths.

1) What is the cost (in rupees) if the journey for each of the first 600 vehicles which travel from A to Z
everyday?
A. 11 B. 12 C. 10 D. 9 E. 8
2)What junctions together have the maximum traffic each day?
A. B and C B. D and E C. D and M D. M and E E. B and E
3)If the cost of travel on the road from C to Z was reduced by 3 rupees, how many vehicles would travel to
junction B everyday?
A. 1200 B. 400 C. 300 D. 600 E. 1000
4)If the costs of travel on the roads M- Z and D-E have to be changed such that 800 vehicles reach E
everyday, what should be the new costs (in rupees) for these two roads?
A. 4 and 5 B. 2 and 6 C. 6 and 3 D. 5 and 4 E. 6 and 2

Question: A significant amount of traffic flows from point S to point T in the one-way street network shown
below. Points A, B, C, and D are junctions in the network, and the arrows mark the direction of traffic flow.
The fuel cost in rupees for travelling along a street is indicated by the number adjacent to the arrow
representing the street.
Motorists travelling from point S to point T would obviously take the route for which the total cost of
travelling is the minimum. If two or more routes have the same least travel cost, then motorists are
indifferent between them. Hence, the traffic gets evenly distributed among all the least cost routes.
The government can control the flow of traffic only by levying appropriate toll at each junction. For
example, if a motorist takes the route S-A-T (using junction A alone), then the total cost of travel would be
Rs. 14 (i.e. Rs. 9 + Rs. 5) plus the toll charged at junction A.
Direction: Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow:
Export cargo of a trader can go through 7 cities P, Q, R, S, T , U, and V . The following cities have a two way
connection that is cargo can move in both direction between them; S and U, P and Q, Q and R, V and T, R
and T, V and U. Cargo can move only in one direction from U to Q.

Question: If the trader wants the cargo to move from City S to the city T then excluding cities S and T, what
is the minimum number of cities that the cargo has to cross in transit ?
1. 4 2. 3 3. 2 4. 5
Question: If the trader wants the cargo to go to the city U from City P through the longest route, how many
cities will be required to cross (excluding cities P and U) ?
1. 2 2. 4 3. 3 4. 5

Question: To move cargo from City P to City U, which of the following statement will minimise the number
of cities to be crossed in transit?
1. Connect cities U to R with a two way connection
2. Connect cities P to S with one way connection from cities S to P
3. Connect cities U to Q with two way connection
4. Connect cities R to V with a two way connection

Question: Four cars need to travel from Akala (A) to Bakala (B). Two routes are available, one via Mamur
(M) and the other via Nanur (N). The roads from A to M, and from N to B, are both short and narrow. In
each case, one car takes 6 minutes to cover the distance, and each additional car increases the travel time
per car by 3 minutes because of congestion. (For example, if only two cars drive from A to M, each car
takes 9 minutes.) On the road from A to N, one car takes 20 minutes, and each additional car increases the
travel time per car by 1 minute. On the road from M to B, one car takes 20 minutes, and each additional
car increases the travel time per car by 0.9 minute.
The police department orders each car to take a particular route in such a manner that it is not possible for
any car to reduce its travel time by not following the order, while the other cars are following the order.

Q1) How many cars would be asked to take the route A-N-B, that is Akala-Nanur-Bakala route, by the
police department?
A) 3 B) 2 C) 1 D) 0

Q2) If all the cars follow the police order, what is the difference in travel time (in minutes) between a car
which takes the route A-N-B and a car that takes the route A-M-B?
A) 1 B) 0.1 C) 0.2 D) 0.9

Direction: Tina a blast furnace expert, who works as a technology trouble-shooter stays in Jamshedpur. She
has got an important assignment in Delhi, which requires six hours to complete. The work is so critical that
she has to start working the moment she reaches the client’s premises.
She is considering various options for her onward and return journey between Jamshedpur to Delhi. A
quick search revealed that ticket from Jamshedpur to Delhi is available in two trains. Trains 12801 and
12443 depart from Jamshedpur station at 06:45 hrs and 15.55 hrs and reach Delhi next day at 04:50 hrs
and 10:35 hrs respectively. Trains 12444 and 12802 start from Delhi at 17:20 hrs and 22:20 hrs and reach
Jamshedpur next day at 10:35 hrs and 20:05 hrs respectively.
Another option is to reach Ranchi by a three hour road trip and take a flight to Delhi from Ranchi. The
distance between Ranchi and Delhi is covered in 105 minutes both-ways by any of the scheduled flights. Air
India operates two flights, AI 9810 and AI 810, which depart Ranchi at 8:00 hrs and 15:25 hrs respectively.
Flight number IT-3348 operated by Kingfisher Airlines departs Ranchi at 19:20 hrs. Return flights operated
by Air India, AI 9809 and AI 809, depart Delhi at 5:50 hrs and 11:00 hrs respectively. Flight number IT-3347
operated by Kingfisher Airlines departs Delhi at 17:10 hrs.
From Tina’s home Jamshedpur railway station is five minutes drive, and her destination at Delhi is 90
minutes and 30 minutes drive from airport and railway station respectively. One has to reach the airport at
least one hour before the scheduled departure to complete the boarding procedure. At every railway
station she loses five minutes in navigating through the crowd.

Questions: If Tina wants to minimize the total time out of Jamshedpur, the best option for her, from the
options given below, is:
(1) AI 9810 and return by IT 3347.
(2) AI 9810 and return by train number 12802.
(3) IT 3348 and return by AI 9809.
(4) Train number 12443 and return by train number 12444.
(5) AI 9810 and return by train number 12444.

Questions: Tina has to appear for an exam on 8th of January in Jamshedpur and she can start from her
residence in Jamshedpur only after 16:00 hrs of the same day. Choose the option, from the options given
below, that will help her to minimize the total time out of Jamshedpur.
(1) Go by Train 12443 and return by Train 12444 (2) Go by Train 12443 and return by AI 9809
(3) Go by IT 3348 and return by Train 12801 (4) Go by AI 810 and return by Train 12801
(5) Go by AI 9810 and return by AI 9809

Questions: If Tina decides to minimize the in-between waiting period, the option that she should choose
from the options given below, will be:
(1) Go by Train 12801 and return by IT 3347 (2) Go by Train 12443 and return by Train
12802
(3) Go by AI 9810 and return by Train 12802 (4) Go by AI 810 and return by AI 9809
(5) Go by IT 3348 and return by AI 809