Answer
See the explanation
Work Step by Step
To determine the number of comparisons made by the merge sort algorithm, let's first look at the number of comparisons required for each list:
1. For the list "Alice, Bob, Carol, and David":
- In the first pass, there will be 6 comparisons.
- In the second pass, there will be 4 comparisons.
- In the third pass, there will be 2 comparisons.
- In the fourth pass, there will be 1 comparison.
So, the total number of comparisons = 6 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 13.
2. For the list "Alice, Bob, Carol, David, and Elaine":
- In the first pass, there will be 10 comparisons.
- In the second pass, there will be 8 comparisons.
- In the third pass, there will be 4 comparisons.
- In the fourth pass, there will be 2 comparisons.
- In the fifth pass, there will be 1 comparison.
So, the total number of comparisons = 10 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 25.
Therefore, the number of comparisons for the list "Alice, Bob, Carol, and David" is 13, and for the list "Alice, Bob, Carol, David, and Elaine" is 25.
