PK0-005 Project Management Concepts Practice Question
A project manager is analyzing the critical path of a 40-activity network diagram. Two paths converge on a milestone: one path has a total float of zero and a duration of 120 days, and the other path has a total float of three days and a duration of 118 days. A team member proposes reducing the duration of an activity on the path with three days of float by two days. What is the MOST likely effect of this change on the project?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that shortening any activity shortens the project, when only compression on the zero-float critical path moves the completion date.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The project completion date will not change because the critical path still determines the finish.
Only activities on the critical path, which has zero total float, can shorten the project's overall duration when compressed. The other path carries three days of float, meaning it can absorb delay without affecting the finish, and shortening it merely increases that slack. The completion date therefore remains governed by the 120-day zero-float path.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The total float on the critical path will increase by two days as a result of the compression.
Why it's wrong here
Total float on the critical path is zero by definition, and it stays zero as long as that path remains the longest. Compressing a different, non-critical path does not add buffer to the critical path, and if the critical path's float were ever to become positive, the project would no longer have that path as critical.
- ✓
The project completion date will not change because the critical path still determines the finish.
Why this is correct
Total float is the amount of time an activity can be delayed without delaying the project finish. A path with three days of float is not critical, so shortening an activity on it by two days consumes no project buffer and leaves the zero-float path, which controls the completion date, unchanged. The project finish is governed by the longest path.
- ✗
The path that previously had three days of float will become the new critical path.
Why it's wrong here
Shortening a path increases its float rather than removing it, so this path moves further from criticality. A new critical path emerges when a previously non-critical path is delayed until its float reaches zero, not when it is compressed, so the proposed change cannot make this path critical.
- ✗
The project completion date will move earlier by two days because the shortened path becomes shorter than before.
Why it's wrong here
Compressing a non-critical path does not advance the project finish because that path is not driving the completion date. The zero-float path still requires its full 120 days, so the overall duration remains 120 days. Only reducing the duration of activities on the critical path can pull the finish date forward without other changes.
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Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
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