What is the worst-case time complexity for searching an element in an unsorted l

Practice Questions

Q1
What is the worst-case time complexity for searching an element in an unsorted linked list?
  1. O(1)
  2. O(n)
  3. O(log n)
  4. O(n^2)

Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions

What is the worst-case time complexity for searching an element in an unsorted linked list?
  • Step 1: Understand what a linked list is. A linked list is a collection of nodes where each node contains data and a reference to the next node.
  • Step 2: Know that an unsorted linked list means the elements are not in any particular order.
  • Step 3: When searching for an element, you start at the head (the first node) of the linked list.
  • Step 4: You check each node one by one to see if it contains the element you are looking for.
  • Step 5: In the worst-case scenario, the element you are searching for is either not in the list or is at the very end of the list.
  • Step 6: If the linked list has 'n' nodes, you will have to check all 'n' nodes to find the element or confirm it is not there.
  • Step 7: Therefore, the time it takes to search in the worst case is proportional to the number of nodes, which is O(n).
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