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    Question

    Given the array [38, 27, 43, 3, 9, 82, 10], what would

    be the two sorted subarrays immediately *before the final merge step* in a Merge Sort algorithm?
    A [3, 9, 10, 27] and [38, 43, 82] Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    B [27, 38] and [3, 9, 10, 43, 82] Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    C [3, 27, 38, 43] and [9, 10, 82] Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    D [3, 9, 27, 38] and [10, 43, 82] Correct Answer Incorrect Answer
    E [3, 9, 10] and [27, 38, 43, 82] Correct Answer Incorrect Answer

    Solution

    • The array has 7 elements

    • It is divided into:

      • Left half: [38, 27, 43, 3]

      • Right half: [9, 82, 10]

    Each half is independently fully sorted before the final merge. Sorting the left half [38, 27, 43, 3]

    Sorted → [3, 27, 38, 43] Sorting the right half [9, 82, 10]

    Sorted → [9, 10, 82] Just before final merge

    The two sorted subarrays are:

    • [3, 27, 38, 43]

    • [9, 10, 82]

    These two are then merged to produce the final sorted array:
    [3, 9, 10, 27, 38, 43, 82]

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