Final answer:
The statement is false since the time to traverse a system is not always the sum of the processing times of each step, especially in scenarios where processes occur concurrently, such as parallel processing.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement "The time to traverse a system always equals the sum of the processing times of each step" is false. When processes are occurring sequentially, the overall time is indeed the sum of each step's time. However, in many real-world systems and in specific contexts, such as computer multitasking or parallel processing, the steps may occur concurrently (at the same time), which results in the total time being less than the sum of individual step times.
For example, if two steps in a system that can be performed in parallel each take one hour to complete, the total time to complete both steps is still one hour, not two, because they are done simultaneously.
Therefore, to clarify:
- For purely sequential tasks: The total time is the sum of processing times.
- For tasks that can be performed in parallel: The total time is less than the sum of processing times.