The first unit requires 10 hours to complete. If the industry uses an 80 percent learning rate, how long should the third unit take?
A) 10 hours
B) 9 hours
C) 8 hours
D) 7.02 hours
E) 6.40 hours

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The 80 percent learning rate means that each time the production quantity doubles, the time required to produce each unit is reduced to 80% of the previous time. For the third unit (which is part of the second doubling from 2 to 4 units), the time required would be 10 hours * 0.8 (first doubling for the second unit) * 0.8 (second doubling for the fourth unit, but we're calculating for the third which falls in the same doubling category). This calculation gives 10 * 0.8 * 0.8 = 6.4 hours. However, since the question specifically asks for the time for the third unit, and we apply the learning rate once for the second unit (10 * 0.8 = 8 hours), we only apply the learning rate once, not twice. My explanation mistakenly applied the learning rate twice. The correct calculation for the third unit, considering the learning curve and the mistake in my explanation, should indeed reflect the application of the learning rate once from the first to the second unit, which would be 10 * 0.8 = 8 hours, making my initial selection incorrect.

The First Unit Requires 10 Hours to Complete