mediumMultiple Choice
PK0-005 Practice Question: A project manager is reviewing the project…
A project manager is reviewing the project schedule and notices that the critical path has a duration of 120 days. One activity on the critical path has a duration of 15 days and a total float of 0. If the duration of that activity is reduced by 5 days, what is the new critical path duration?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates may mistakenly think reducing a critical path activity's duration does not affect the overall critical path, or they may confuse total float with free float, leading them to choose the original duration or an incorrect reduced value.
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
✓
115 days
The critical path is the longest path in the project schedule, and any delay on a critical path activity directly extends the project duration. Since the activity on the critical path has a total float of 0, reducing its duration by 5 days reduces the total critical path duration from 120 days to 115 days.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
115 days
Why this is correct
Total float of zero means the activity sits on the critical path, so any reduction shortens the whole project. Cutting 5 days from its 15-day duration reduces the 120-day critical path to 115 days, assuming no other path becomes critical.
- ✗
100 days
Why it's wrong here
Reducing a critical-path activity by five days shortens the path to 115 days, not 100. Subtracting the activity's full 15-day duration would apply only if the activity were removed entirely, which the stem does not state.
- ✗
120 days
Why it's wrong here
The activity sits on the critical path with zero float, so shortening it by five days reduces total duration to 115 days. Keeping 120 days would hold only if the activity had float or were not on the critical path.
- ✗
125 days
Why it's wrong here
Reducing a critical-path activity's duration shortens the project; it cannot lengthen it, so 125 days contradicts the arithmetic. The figure likely comes from adding the five days rather than subtracting them, or from confusing float consumption with duration change. Total float of zero means any reduction flows straight to the critical path, giving 115 days.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This PK0-005 question is part of Courseiva's 954-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PK0-005 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PK0-005 exam.