Describe how the number of comparisons used in the worst case changes when these algorithms are used to search for an element of a list when the size of the list doubles from n to 2n, where n is a positive integer.

a) Linear search

b) Binary search

The linear search changes from O (1) to O (n), and binary search changes from O (1) to O (log n). Where n is an integer.

Explanation:

The linear algorithm transverse through a list of items until the target value is found. When a search is conducted, the algorithm moves through the unordered list, one item at a time, denoted as O (1). But when the list size is increased, it is gets to the worse case of O (n) with n as the integer of the increased value.