Final answer:
To identify an individual element from a set of n elements, one would typically use a binary search method that requires log2 n questions, rounding up to the nearest whole number where necessary.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question pertains to how many questions, or choices, one would need to specify an individual element from a set of n elements. The optimal strategy for identifying an individual element is through a binary search approach, which is akin to playing a game of '20 Questions,' where each question cuts the remaining set of possibilities in half. This is achieved by consistently dividing the set of elements into two groups and eliminating one group with each question. The number of questions required to identify an individual element is then the number of times you can divide the set of elements by 2 until you are left with one element. This is represented by the base-2 logarithm of the number of elements (log2 n).
For example, if you have a set of 8 elements, you can ask 'Is the element in the first half?' With only three questions, you can narrow down to one element (3 is the result of log2 8 since 23 = 8). In most cases where n is not a power of 2, you'll have a decimal number of questions, and so you would round up to the nearest whole number because you can't ask a fraction of a question.