If a binary search is performed on an array of 32 elements, how many iterations
Practice Questions
Q1
If a binary search is performed on an array of 32 elements, how many iterations will it take in the worst case?
4
5
6
7
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
If a binary search is performed on an array of 32 elements, how many iterations will it take in the worst case?
Step 1: Understand that a binary search works by repeatedly dividing the array in half.
Step 2: Know that the maximum number of times you can divide an array of size n is related to the logarithm base 2 of n.
Step 3: For this question, the size of the array is 32.
Step 4: Calculate log2(32). This means you want to find out how many times you can divide 32 by 2 until you reach 1.
Step 5: Since 32 is 2 raised to the power of 5 (because 2^5 = 32), log2(32) equals 5.
Step 6: Therefore, in the worst case, it will take 5 iterations to find the target element or determine it is not in the array.
Binary Search – A search algorithm that finds the position of a target value within a sorted array by repeatedly dividing the search interval in half.
Logarithmic Complexity – The time complexity of binary search is O(log n), which indicates that the number of iterations grows logarithmically with the size of the array.