Ans: option(b)
Explanation:
A binary tree is a tree data structure in which each node has at most two child nodes.
The number of subtrees of a node is called the degree of the node. In a binary tree, all nodes have degree 0, 1,
or 2.
The degree of a tree is the maximum degree of a node in the tree. A binary tree is of degree 2.
GATE-1996
2. In the balanced binary tree in the figure given below, how many nodes will become unbalanced when a node
is inserted as a child of the node “g”?
Ans: option(b)
Explanation:
A binary tree T is balanced if:
1) Left subtree of T is balanced
2) Right subtree of T is balanced
3) The difference between heights of left subtree and right subtree is not more than 1.
After inserting a node as a child of g, find the balance factors of each node.
Balance Factor of node a = height of left subtree - height of right subtree = 2
Similarly the balance factors of the nodes are b = 2, c = 2, d = 0, g = 1, e = 1 and f = 0.
Nodes having balance factor 1, 0 and -1 are balanced nodes. All other nodes are unbalanced nodes.
Note: Whenever a node gets unbalanced, all the nodes on the path from first unbalanced node to till the root
also gets unbalanced. In this problem first unbalanced node was c. So all the nodes from c to root a got
unbalanced (i.e. c,b and a.)
GATE - 1996
3. Which of the following sequences denotes the post order traversal sequence of
the tree of the above question 2?
(a) f e g c d b a
(b) g c b d a f e
(c) g c d b f e a
(d) f e d g c b a
Ans: option(c)
Explanation:
As shown in the figure above start from the node a. Each node has been numbered as 1,2,3. When u are finding
postorder start from the root and consider the node only when u reach point 3. As shown above the red line
indicates the path through which the tree is traversed. The first node that reaches point 3 on traversing is node
g, then c, then d, then b, then f, then e and then a. Hence we are considering point 3 for postorder. If you
consider point 2 then u will get inorder, and if you consider point 1 u will get preorder.
GATE-1996
4. A binary search tree is generated by inserting in order the following integers:
50, 15, 62, 5, 20, 58, 91, 3, 8, 37, 60, 24
The number of nodes in the left subtree and right subtree of the root respectively is
(a) (4, 7) (b) (7, 4) (c) (8, 3) (d) (3, 8)
GATE-1998
6. Which of the following statements is false?
(a) A tree with n nodes has (n – 1) edges
(b) A labeled rooted binary tree can be uniquely constructed given its postorder and preorder traversal results.
(c) A complete binary tree with n internal nodes has (n + 1) leaves.
(d) The maximum number of nodes in a binary tree of height h is (2h+1-1)
Consider the complete binary tree below. The below complete binary tree has 2 internal nodes, but has only 2
leaves. Hence statement (c) is false.
1
/ \
2 3
/
4
A full binary tree (proper binary tree or 2-tree or strictly binary tree) is a tree in which every node in a binary
tree has exactly 0 or 2 children.
A perfect binary tree is a full binary tree in which all leaves are at the same depth or same level, and in which
every parent has two children.
A complete binary tree is a binary tree in which every level, except possibly the last, is completely filled, and
all nodes are as far left as possible.
For more details Refer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_tree#Types_of_binary_trees
GATE-1998
7. A complete n-ary tree is one in which every node has 0 or n sons. If x is the number of internal nodes of a
complete n-ary tree, the number of leaves in it is given by
(a) x(n – 1) +1 (b) xn - 1 (c) xn + 1 (d) x(n+1)
In the above figure, circle represents an internal node and square represents leaf nodes. from the above
complete n-ary tree we can see that: -
With 1 internal node => n leaf nodes
With 2 internal node => (n + n-1) leaf nodes = (2n - 1) leaf nodes
With 3 internal node => (n + n + n-2) leaf nodes = (3n - 2) leaf nodes
With x internal node => = (xn - (x-1)) leaf nodes
= xn - x + 1 = x(n -1) +1 leaf nodes.
GATE-2000
8. Consider the following nested representation of binary trees: (X Y Z) indicates Y and Z are the left and right
sub stress, respectively, of node X. Note that Y and Z may be NULL, or further nested. Which of the following
represents a valid binary tree?
(a) (1 2 (4 5 6 7))
(b) (1 ((2 3 4) 5 6) 7)
(c) (1 (2 3 4)(5 6 7))
(d) (1 (2 3 NULL) (4 5))
Ans: option (c)
Explanation:
option (a) is not possible because the right subtree (4 5 6 7) is not in the correct format of (X Y Z).
option (b) is not possible because (2 3 4) cannot be the root of the left subtree of 1.
option (b) is not possible because (4 5) is not in the correct format. 4's right child is not specified. If it was (1
(2 3 NULL) (4 5 NULL)), then valid.
GATE-2000
9. The most appropriate matching for the following pairs
X: depth first search 1: heap
Y: breadth-first search 2: queue
Z: sorting 3: stack
is:
(a) X—1 Y—2 Z-3
(b) X—3 Y—1 Z-2
(c) X—3 Y—2 Z-1
(d) X—2 Y—3 Z-1
GATE-2000
10. Let LASTPOST, LASTIN and LASTPRE denote the last vertex visited in a postorder, inorder and preorder
traversal. Respectively, of a complete binary tree. Which of the following is always true?
(a) LASTIN = LASTPOST
(b) LASTIN = LASTPRE
(c) LASTPRE = LASTPOST
(d) None of the above
Ans: (d)
Explanation:
Note that we have to consider a complete binary tree.
a
/ \
b c
/ \ /
d e f
Preorder : a b d e c f
Inorder : d b e a f c
Postorder: d e b f c a
So, LASTPOST = a, LASTPRE = f, LASTIN = c
GATE-2003
11. Suppose the numbers 7, 5, 1, 8, 3, 6, 0, 9, 4, 2 are inserted in that order into an initially empty binary search
tree. The binary search tree uses the usual ordering on natural numbers. What is the in-order traversal sequence
of the resultant tree?
a) 7 5 1 0 3 2 4 6 8 9
b) 0 2 4 3 1 6 5 9 8 7
c) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
d) 9 8 6 4 2 3 0 1 5 7
GATE-2004
12. The following numbers are inserted into an empty binary search tree in the given order: 10, 1, 3, 5, 15, 12,
16. What is the height of the binary search tree (the height is the maximum distance of a leaf node from the
root)?
(a) 2 (b) 3 (c) 4 (d) 6
GATE-2007
14. The height of a binary tree is the maximum number of edges in any root to leaf path. The maximum
number of nodes in a binary tree of height h is:
(a) 2h -1
(b) 2h-1 – 1
(c) 2h+1 -1
(d) 2h+1
GATE-2007
15. The maximum number of binary trees that can be formed with three unlabeled nodes is:
(a) 1 (b) 5 (c) 4 (d) 3
GATE-2007
16. The inorder and preorder traversal of a binary tree are d b e a f c g and a b d e c f g, respectively. The
postorder traversal of the binary tree is:
(A) d e b f g c a
(B) e d b g f c a
(C) e d b f g c a
(D) d e f g b c a
GATE-2002
17. The number of leaf nodes in a rooted tree of n nodes, with each node having 0 or 3 children is:
(a) n/2 (b) (n-1)/3 (c) (n-1)/2 (d) (2n+1)/3
L = 2 ( n- L ) + 1
L = 2n - 2L + 1
3L = 2n + 1
Therefore L = (2n +1)/3
GATE-2005
18. How many distinct binary search trees can be created out of 4 distinct keys?
(a) 5 (b) 14 (c) 24 (d) 42
GATE-2002
19. A weight-balanced tree is a binary tree in which for each node, the number of nodes in the left sub tree is at
least half and at most twice the number of nodes in the right sub tree. The maximum possible height (number
of nodes on the path from the root to the farthest leaf) of such a tree on n nodes is best described by which of
the following?
(a) log2n (b) log4/3n (c) log3n (d) log3/2n
GATE-2005
20. Postorder traversal of a given binary search tree, T produces the following sequence of keys 10, 9, 23,
22, 27, 25, 15, 50, 95, 60, 40, 29
Which one of the following sequences of keys can be the result of an in-order traversal of the tree T?
(a) 9, 10, 15, 22, 23, 25, 27, 29, 40, 50, 60, 95
(b) 9, 10, 15, 22, 40, 50, 60, 95, 23, 25, 27, 29
(c) 29, 15, 9, 10, 25, 22, 23, 27, 40, 60, 50, 95
(d) 95, 50, 60, 40, 27, 23, 22, 25, 10, 9, 15, 29
GATE-2004
21. Consider the label sequences obtained by the following pairs of traversals on a labeled binary tree. Which
of these pairs identify a tree uniquely?
i) Preorder and Postorder
ii) Pnorder and Postorder
iii) Preorder and Inorder
iv) Level order and Postorder
(a) (i) only
(b) (ii), (iii) only
(c) (iii) only
(d) (iv) only
As you can see, Preorder, Postorder and Level-ordertraversals are the same for the trees. hence, if one of the
traversal is 'Inorder' then the tree can be constructed, otherwise not.
GATE-2005
22. Which one of the following is a key factor for preferring B-trees to binary search trees for indexing
database relations?
(a) Database relations have a large number of records
(b) Database relations are sorted on the primary key
(c) B-trees require less memory than binary search trees
(d) Data transfer form disks is in blocks.
GATE-2006
23. A 3-ary max heap is like a binary max heap, but instead of 2 children, nodes have 3 children. A 3-ary heap
can be represented by an array as follows: The root is stored in the first location, a[0], nodes in the next level,
from left to right, is stored from a[1] to a[3]. The nodes from the second level of the tree from left to right are
stored from a[4] location onward. An item x can be inserted into a 3-ary heap containing n items by placing x
in the location a[n] and pushing it up the tree to satisfy the heap property.
Which one of the following is a valid sequence of elements in an array representing 3-ary max heap?
(a) 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 (b) 9, 6, 3, 1, 8, 5
(c) 9, 3, 6, 8, 5, 1 (d) 9, 5, 6, 8, 3, 1
GATE-2006
24. Suppose the elements 7, 2, 10 and 4 are inserted, in that order, into the valid 3- ary max heap found in the
above question, Which one of the following is the sequence of items in the array representing the resultant
heap?
(a) 10, 7, 9, 8, 3, 1, 5, 2, 6, 4 (b) 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
(c) 10, 9, 4, 5, 7, 6, 8, 2, 1, 3 (d) 10, 8, 6, 9, 7, 2, 3, 4, 1, 5
GATE-2005
25. A Priority-Queue is implemented as a Max-Heap. Initially, it has 5 elements. The level-order traversal of
the heap is given below:
10, 8, 5, 3, 2
Two new elements '1' and '7' are inserted in the heap in that order. The level-order traversal of the heap after
the insertion of the elements is:
(a) 10, 8, 7, 5, 3, 2, 1 (b) 10, 8, 7, 2, 3, 1, 5
(c) 10, 8, 7, 1, 2, 3, 5 (d) 10, 8, 7, 3, 2, 1, 5
Ans: option(d)
Explanation:
The maximum number of children each node can have depends on the type of heap. Since here nothing is
mention we consider that the heap is a binary heap (i.e. each node has at most 2 children).
Initially the heap will be as shown below.
10
/ \
8 5
/ \
3 2
To add an element, perform the procedure detailed in the question 24. After insertion the heap will be as shown
below.
10
/ \
8 7
/ \ / \
3 2 1 5
GATE -2009
26. Consider a binary max-heap implemented using an array. Which one of the following array represents a
binary max-heap?
(a) 25,12,16,13,10,8,14 (b) 25,14,13,16,10,8,12
(c) 25,14,16,13,10,8,12 (d) 25,14,12,13,10,8,16
GATE-2009
27. What is the content of the array after two delete operations on the correct answer to the previous question?
(a) 14,13,12,10,8
(b) 14,12,13,8,10
(c) 14,13,8,12,10
(d) 14,13,12,8,10
Ans: option(d)
Explanation:
The procedure for deleting the root from the heap :
1. Replace the root of the heap with the last element on the last level.
2. Compare the new root with its children; if they are in the correct order, stop.
3. If not, swap the element with one of its children and return to the previous step. (Swap with its smaller child
in a min-heap and its larger child in a max-heap.)
Delete 25:
Step1: Replace the root of the heap (25) with the last element on the last level (12)
12
/ \
14 16
/ \ /
13 10 8
Step2: Compare the new root with its children. Not on the correct order, hence step 3.
Step3: Swap the element with one of its children. (Since max-heap swap with larger child)
16
/ \
14 12
/ \ /
13 10 8
Delete 16 using the above procedure. Finally we will get the following heap.
14
/ \
13 12
/ \
8 10
GATE-2009
28. What is the maximum height of any AVL-tree with 7 nodes? Assume that the height of a tree with a single
node is 0.
(a) 2 (b) 3 (c) 4 (d) 5
1 & 1
/ \ / \
2 3 2 3
/ \ / \ / \
4 5 6 4 5 6
/ \
7 7
GATE-2012
29. The height of a tree is defined as the number of edges on the longest path in the tree. The function shown in
the pseudocode below is invoked as height (root) to compute the height of a binary tree rooted at the tree
pointer root.
The appropriate expression for the two boxes B1 and B2 are
(a) B1 : (1 + height(n->right)), B2 : (1 + max(h1,h2))
(b) B1 : (height(n->right)), B2 : (1 + max(h1,h2))
(c) B1 : height(n->right), B2 : max(h1,h2)
(d) B1 : (1 + height(n->right)), B2 : max(h1,h2)
GATE-2011
30. We are given a set of n distinct elements and an unlabeled binary tree with n nodes. In how many ways can
we populate the tree with the given set so that it becomes a binary search tree?
(a) 0 (b) 1 (c) n! (d) (1/(n+1)).2nCn
GATE-2015
31. A binary tree T has 20 leaves. The number of nodes in T having two children is __________
Ans: 19
Explanation: