In a binary tree, what is the maximum number of nodes at depth d?
Practice Questions
Q1
In a binary tree, what is the maximum number of nodes at depth d?
d
2^d
2^(d+1) - 1
d^2
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
In a binary tree, what is the maximum number of nodes at depth d?
Step 1: Understand what a binary tree is. A binary tree is a tree data structure where each node has at most two children, referred to as the left child and the right child.
Step 2: Know what 'depth' means. The depth of a node in a tree is the number of edges from the tree's root node to the node. The depth of the root node is 0.
Step 3: Recognize that at depth 0 (the root), there is 1 node (the root itself).
Step 4: At depth 1, each node can have 2 children. So, the maximum number of nodes at depth 1 is 2 (the two children of the root).
Step 5: At depth 2, each of the 2 nodes at depth 1 can also have 2 children. Therefore, the maximum number of nodes at depth 2 is 2 * 2 = 4.
Step 6: Continue this pattern. At depth d, the maximum number of nodes is 2 raised to the power of d (2^d).
Step 7: Conclude that the formula for the maximum number of nodes at depth d in a binary tree is 2^d.
