Question

Given an array A of size n, we want to find if an element k belongs to this array. What will be the time complexity of this search operation?

1) O(1)
2) O(log n)
3) O(n)
4) O(n²)

Answer 1

The time complexity for searching an element k in an unsorted array A of size n is O(n), while for a sorted array using binary search is2. O(log n).

Step-by-step explanation:

When searching for an element k in an unsorted array A of size n, the time complexity of the search operation is generally O(n). This is because, in the worst case, you may have to look through each element in the array to find k or to determine that k is not present in the array. If the array is sorted, and you implement a binary search algorithm, the time complexity would be O(log n).

The time complexity of searching for an element in an array depends on the algorithm used. In a standard linear search algorithm, the time complexity is O(n), where n is the size of the array. This is because the algorithm needs to traverse through each element of the array in the worst case scenario to find the desired element.