Tutorial

Finding Critical Path based

on Activity on Arrow Graph
Two kinds of activity graph

• Activity on arrow (AOA): a graph shows each

activity as an arrow, the nodes representing
the starting and ending points (or events,
milestones)
• Activity on node (AON): a graph shows each
activity as a node, the arrows show the
dependencies between activities.

Chapter 3 Tutorial 2
Graph examples

Chapter 3 Tutorial 3
Graph examples (continued)

AOA

AON

Chapter 3 Tutorial 4
Concepts

• Precursor: event or set of events that must

occur in order for an activity to start
• Immediate precursor: the immediate event
that must occur in order for an activity to
start
• Successor: event or set of events that occur
when an activity is completed
• Immediate successor: the immediate event
that occur when an activity is completed

Chapter 3 Tutorial 5
Concepts (continued)

• Precursor: event or set of events that must

occur in order for an activity to start
• Immediate precursor: the immediate event
that must occur in order for an activity to
start
• Eg. Activity D:
– Precursors: G

node 1, 2, 4
– Immediate Precursor:
node 4

Chapter 3 Tutorial 6
Concepts (continued)

• Successor: event or set of events that occur

when an activity is completed
• Immediate successor: the immediate event
that occur when an activity is completed
• Eg. Activity D:
– Successors:
node 5, 6 G

– Immediate successor:
node 5

Chapter 3 Tutorial 7
Concepts (continued)

• Earliest start (ES) time of an activity: the

earliest time an activity may begin with
• Latest start (LS) time of an activity: the latest
time an activity may begin without delaying
the project
• Earliest event time (EET): the earliest start
time of an event (node)
• Latest event time (LET): the latest start time
of an event (node)

Chapter 3 Tutorial 8
 How to calculate EET

• EET(j): the longest time for

reaching node j
• Forward pass
– EET(start)=0
– EET(j)=max{ EET(i)
+duration(A), EET(k)
+duration(B) }

Chapter 3 Tutorial 9
Different kind of start nodes

Chapter 3 Tutorial 10
Multiple Choice(single) Points: 1

What is EET of node 5? Here, EET(1)=0.

A 13

B 17
G

C 19

D 20

Chapter 3 Tutorial Submit 11

 How to calculate LET

• Backward pass
– LET(finish)=EET(finish)
– LET(j)=min{LET(i)-duration(A), LET(k)-duration(B) }

Chapter 3 Tutorial 12
Multiple Choice(single) Points: 1

What is LET of node 2? Here, LET(6)=20.

A 8

B 10
G

C 14

D 16

Chapter 3 Tutorial Submit 13

Example
calculate EET and LET

Chapter 3 Tutorial 14
 How to calculate ES of an activity

• ES(A): equals to the earliest

event time of the starting
node of an activity
ES(A)=EET(i)

• Activity has multiple starting

nodes:
Eg. Activity A=B
ES(A)=max{EET(i), EET(k)}

Chapter 3 Tutorial 15
Multiple Choice(single) Points: 1

What is the earliest start time of activity C?

A 6

B 8
G

C 16

D 18

Chapter 3 Tutorial Submit 16

 How to calculate LS of an activity

• LS(A): the difference

between the latest event
time of ending node with
the duration of the activity

• LS(A)=LET(i)-duration(A)

Chapter 3 Tutorial 17
Multiple Choice(single) Points: 1

What is the latest start time of activity B?

A 0

B 4
G

C 6

D 8

Chapter 3 Tutorial Submit 18

 Example
Calculate slack time of an activity
• Slack time = latest start time – earliest start time
• Critical path: the slack at every node is zero
Critical path: A->E->G

Activity Slack
A 0
B 6
C 2
D 2
E 0
F 6
G 0

Chapter 3 Tutorial 19