A defense contractor has just started producing turbines for a new government contract. The first turbine took 7000 hours to produce. If the learning curve is 90%, how long will it take to produce the 10th turbine? (Use at least three decimals in the exponent if you use the logarithmic approach.)
A) less than 4800 hours
B) from 4800 to 4900 hours
C) from 4900 to 5000 hours
D) from 5000 to 5100 hours
E) over 5100 hours

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

According to the learning curve formula (y = a * x^b), where y is the hours it takes to produce the xth unit, a is the hours to produce the first unit, and b is the logarithmic learning coefficient:

log(0.9) / log(2) ≈ -0.152
b ≈ -0.152

Using this value for b and solving for the hours it would take to produce the 10th unit:

y = a * (10^b)
y = 7000 * (10^-0.152)
y ≈ 4965.85

Therefore, the answer is C, from 4900 to 5000 hours.

A Defense Contractor Has Just Started Producing Turbines for a New