What is the time complexity of finding the maximum element in a binary search tr
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the time complexity of finding the maximum element in a binary search tree?
O(1)
O(log n)
O(n)
O(n log n)
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
What is the time complexity of finding the maximum element in a binary search tree?
Step 1: Understand what a binary search tree (BST) is. A BST is a tree data structure where each node has a value, and the left child has a smaller value while the right child has a larger value.
Step 2: To find the maximum element in a BST, you need to look for the rightmost node because the largest value is always located there.
Step 3: Start at the root of the BST.
Step 4: Move to the right child of the current node. Repeat this step until you reach a node that does not have a right child.
Step 5: The node you reach that has no right child is the maximum element in the BST.
Step 6: In a balanced BST, the maximum element can be found in O(log n) time because you are effectively halving the number of nodes you need to check at each step.
