Final answer:
The trace of insertion sort for the list [6, 2, 3, 1, 5, 4] involves swapping elements to progressively build a sorted section of the list at each step, resulting in a sorted list after each pass.
Step-by-step explanation:
The student has asked for a complete trace of insertion sort on the list [6, 2, 3, 1, 5, 4], showing the lists obtained at each step as the values of i and j change during the sort. Here is the detailed trace:
Initial list: [6, 2, 3, 1, 5, 4]
After first pass (i=1): [2, 6, 3, 1, 5, 4] - 2 is inserted before 6.
After second pass (i=2): [2, 3, 6, 1, 5, 4] - 3 is inserted before 6.
After third pass (i=3): [1, 2, 3, 6, 5, 4] - 1 is inserted before 2.
After fourth pass (i=4): [1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 4] - 5 is inserted before 6.
After fifth pass (i=5): [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] - 4 is inserted before 5.
At each step of the insertion sort process, the elements to the left of the current index i are sorted, and the current element is placed in its correct position within the sorted subset of the list. These steps result in the list gradually becoming fully sorted.