What is the time complexity of finding the maximum element in a binary heap?
Practice Questions
Q1
What is the time complexity of finding the maximum element in a binary heap?
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 heap?
Step 1: Understand what a binary max-heap is. A binary max-heap is a complete binary tree where each parent node is greater than or equal to its child nodes.
Step 2: Identify where the maximum element is located in a binary max-heap. The maximum element is always at the root of the heap, which is the topmost node.
Step 3: Realize that to find the maximum element, you simply need to look at the root node of the heap.
Step 4: Since accessing the root node takes no time regardless of the size of the heap, this operation is done in constant time.
Step 5: Conclude that the time complexity for finding the maximum element in a binary max-heap is O(1).
