What happens if Dijkstra's algorithm is applied to a graph with negative weight

Practice Questions

Q1
What happens if Dijkstra's algorithm is applied to a graph with negative weight edges?
  1. It will still find the shortest path.
  2. It may produce incorrect results.
  3. It will not terminate.
  4. It will find the longest path.

Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions

What happens if Dijkstra's algorithm is applied to a graph with negative weight edges?
  • Step 1: Understand what Dijkstra's algorithm does. It finds the shortest path from a starting node to all other nodes in a graph.
  • Step 2: Know that Dijkstra's algorithm works by assuming that once it finds the shortest path to a node, that path will not change.
  • Step 3: Recognize that negative weight edges can create situations where a shorter path to a node can be found after it has already been processed.
  • Step 4: Realize that because of this, Dijkstra's algorithm may give incorrect shortest path results when negative weight edges are present.
  • Step 5: Conclude that Dijkstra's algorithm is not suitable for graphs with negative weight edges.
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