Putting Things in Order
Putting Things in Order
Bubble sort is like bubbles rising in water - compare neighbours, swap if wrong order, biggest values "bubble up" to the end. Keep passing through until no swaps needed. Insertion sort is like sorting cards in your hand - pick each card and insert it into the correct position among the cards you've already sorted. Merge sort is like sorting by splitting a deck in half repeatedly, then merging back in order.
Now try it yourself
Quiz · Question 1 of 15
Which of the following is a requirement before binary search can be used?
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This topic in real past papers
Every real exam question we've found on binary search, with a full worked answer.
AQA Paper 1
Both sittings we have full papers for include at least two separate trace table questions, always worth 4 to 6 marks each, and always the single most heavily tested skill on this paper.
AQA Paper 1
Both sittings we have full papers for include a short question asking you to reason about a given algorithm's efficiency or suitability, rather than write new code, worth 1 to 3 marks.
OCR Paper 2
All three sittings we have full papers for test genuine understanding of how a sorting or searching algorithm works, worth 2 to 3 marks, though the exact skill, completing a merge sort, comparing two sorts, or tracing a binary search, varies each time.