MAST20018 Introduction to Discrete Mathematics and Operations Research

Assignment 3
Place in your tutors box by 5pm Friday 25th September 2015
1. The following project consists of 8 activities, which have been labelled A to H:

Activity

Time (days) Precedence

A.

B.

C.

D.

E.

13

B,C

F.

C,D

G.

11

D,F

H.

G,E

(a) Draw the corresponding AON network for the project.

(b) Draw the corresponding AOA network for the project.
(c) Calculate the total float for each activity.
(d) Find all critical paths in the AON network.
(e) Find the minimum amount of time required to complete the project.
(f) If the minimum amount of time to complete the project is 35 days, find the latest finish
and start times for all the activities.
(g) What is the effect on minimum completion time if F is delayed by 3 days?
(h) What is the effect on minimum completion time if E is delayed by 7 days?
2. Consider the AON network below, which is for a small industrial manufacturing project.

?
2

E
?
B 3

D
1

MAST20018 Introduction to Discrete Mathematics and Operations Research

The time durations for activities C,D, and E are to be decided in order to minimise cost and
ensure that the project is completed within a given time-frame. The associated costs are:
Activity

Time (days) Cost ($000)

C.

10

15

12

16

25

14

Lets introduce the following decision variables:

Let xj be the earliest start time of activity j. For instance, xA = 0.
Let Ci = 1 if a time duration of i is chosen for activity C, and let Ci = 0 otherwise. From
the above table we see that i {1, ..., 4} in this case.
Let Di = 1 if a time duration of i is chosen for activity D, and let Di = 0 otherwise. Here
i {1, 2, 3}.
Let Ei = 1 if a time duration of i is chosen for activity E, and let Ei = 0 otherwise. Here
i {6, 7, 8}.
We will now consider some of the steps in setting up our linear program. Note that since
Ci , Di , Ei are integer variables our program will technically be an integer linear program (ILP).
(a) Explain why we need the following constraints:
C4 + C3 + C2 + C1 = 1,
D3 + D2 + D1 = 1,
E8 + E7 + E6 = 1.
(b) In terms of C1 , ..., C4 , what is the time duration for activity C?
(c) Formulate the objective function of the linear program in terms of all the Ci , Di and Ei .
(d) Write down all the constraints that involve xE , the earliest start time of E. Hint: in order
to keep it linear, you should avoid using the max operator in these constraints.

MAST20018 Introduction to Discrete Mathematics and Operations Research

3. Consider the network below:

s
q

y
u

x
w
t

(a) Write down the node-node adjacency matrix for the given network using the formula

1, if nodes i and j are connected by an edge

A = [aij ],
aij =
0, otherwise.
(b) Without doing any matrix multiplication, write down the top row of A2 , and explain your
reasoning.
(c) Draw a tree, with root s, indicating the shortest path from s to all the other nodes.
(d) Using the data in your tree, employ the recursive algorithm from class to compute the
number of shortest paths from s to t.
(e) Without doing any matrix multiplication, state the entry in the row of node s and the
column of node t in A3 .
4. [Bonus question] Consider the following general algorithm which searches through the nodes
of a network, starting from a specified node s, and performs some task at each node it considers:
ALGORITHM
Input: A network G with specified node s, and a task to execute at each node.
Step 1. Create a queue Q of nodes and initially let Q := {s}.
Step 2. If the Q is empty then stop the algorithm. Otherwise, remove an element v at the
front of the queue Q, and perform the given task on v. Add the nodes that are adjacent (i.e.,
connected by an edge) to v, but have not been added to Q at any earlier stage, to the back of
the queue Q.
Step 3. Go to Step 2.
3

MAST20018 Introduction to Discrete Mathematics and Operations Research

The above algorithm is called Breadth First Search (BFS).
(a) Perform the BFS algorithm on the network from Q3. You should explicitly show what Q
looks like at each step of the algorithm.
(b) Why do you think the algorithm is called Breadth First?