Hello!
I have a doubt and hopefully you will able to clarify it. When it comes to finding the total time in learning curves, my tutor has taught me to use Y=ax^(b+1)
When i use this formula in a question, the answer i get is slightly different from the answer provided.
For examples for the below question my answer was 6.63 minutes while the answer in the book was 6.67 minutes.
First Intuition Q.104
A company is preparing a quotation for a new product. The time taken for the first unit of the product was 30 minutes and the company expects an 85% learning curve. The quotation is to be based on the time taken for the final unit within the learning period which is expected to end after the company has produced 200 units
Calculate the time to be used for the quotation to the nearest 0.01 minutes
Below is the procedure I have used:
Y=30x200^(-0.2345+1) which equals to 1732.047
Y=30x199^(-0.2345+1) which equals to 1725.41
The difference is 6. 63 minutes
I would be so grateful, if you could clarify the above and if my answer would be regarded as acceptable.
Thank you so much!
CIMA Forums
DECIMAL PLACES
Hi there - thank you for your question.
I get exactly the same figures as you and 6.63 minutes Is definitely ok.
There are always rounding issues with logarithm calculations - the full index figure is -0.2344652536
If you leave this number in your calculator -using save memory function or by jotting it down you'll get slightly different answers than you did above.
You haven't done anything wrong though - I think shortening to 4 decimal places is standard practice for logarithms in this case - but it does explain the slight difference from the text book answer.
Often learning curve questions will give you the indexed learning rate to use for 'b' so that your figures wont be too far out due to rounding.
Kind Regards,
Cath
Dear Cath,
Thank you so much for clarifying the doubt! Really appreciate your help.
You're welcome :-)
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