Tribhuvan University
Faculty of Management
Office of the Dean
Official Model Question Paper / Dean's Office Blueprint
Candidates are required to give their answers in their own words as far as practicable. The figures in the margin indicate full marks.
Group A
Brief Answer Questions. Attempt ALL questions.
[5 × 2 = 10]- [2]
Define a Tautology in propositional logic and state the contrapositive of
. View model solution
Answer:
- Tautology: A compound proposition that is always true for all possible truth value assignments of its component propositional variables (e.g.,
). - Contrapositive:
(which is logically equivalent to ).
- Tautology: A compound proposition that is always true for all possible truth value assignments of its component propositional variables (e.g.,
- [2]
State the Pigeonhole Principle and give an example.
View model solution
Answer: Pigeonhole Principle: If
or more objects are placed into boxes, then at least one box must contain two or more objects. Example: Among any group of 367 people, at least two individuals must share the same birthday. - [2]
Define an Equivalence Relation on a set
. View model solution
Answer: A relation
on a set is an equivalence relation if and only if it satisfies three properties: - Reflexive:
for all . - Symmetric: If
, then . - Transitive: If
and , then .
- Reflexive:
- [2]
What is an Euler Circuit in a connected graph?
View model solution
Answer: Euler Circuit: A closed walk in a graph that visits every single edge exactly once and returns to the starting vertex. A connected undirected graph has an Euler circuit if and only if every vertex has an even degree.
- [2]
Define a Tree and state the relationship between the number of vertices
and edges in a tree. View model solution
Answer: Tree: A connected undirected graph with no simple circuits. Relationship: For any tree with
vertices and edges:
Group B
Descriptive Answer Questions. Attempt any THREE questions.
[3 × 10 = 30]- [10]
Prove by Mathematical Induction that for all positive integers
: View model solution
Proof by Mathematical Induction
Let
be the proposition:
Step 1: Base Case (
) - Left Hand Side (LHS) =
. - Right Hand Side (RHS) =
. Since , the base case is true.
Step 2: Inductive Hypothesis
Assume that
is true for some positive integer :
Step 3: Inductive Step (
) We must prove that
is true, i.e.: Starting with the LHS of
: Substitute the inductive hypothesis: Factor out common term: Factoring the numerator quadratic: Therefore,
is true whenever is true. By the Principle of Mathematical Induction, is true for all integers . - Left Hand Side (LHS) =
- [10]
Solve the second-order linear homogeneous recurrence relation:
with initial conditionsand . View model solution
Solution: Homogeneous Recurrence Relation
Given:
Step 1: Characteristic Equation
Let
: The characteristic roots are distinct:and .
Step 2: General Solution
Since roots are real and distinct, the general solution is:
Step 3: Determine Constants
and from Initial Conditions - For
: - For
:
Substitute (1) into (2):
Step 4: Final Solution
Verification:
(Matches ). (Matches ). ; Formula: (Confirmed).
- For
- [10]
Explain Dijkstra’s Algorithm for finding the shortest path in a weighted connected graph. Trace the algorithm on a graph with vertices
to determine the shortest path from source vertex to all other vertices with the following edge weights: . View model solution
Dijkstra’s Shortest Path Algorithm
1. Algorithm Overview
- A greedy algorithm that finds the shortest path from a single source vertex to all other vertices in a weighted graph with non-negative edge weights.
- Maintains a set of visited vertices
and updates tentative distance estimates for all unvisited neighbors:
2. Step-by-Step Trace from Source
: -
Initialization:
; . Visited set . -
Iteration 1: Select unvisited vertex with minimum distance: Vertex
( ). Add to : . Update neighbors of : (via ) (via )
-
Iteration 2: Minimum unvisited vertex: Vertex
( ). Add to : . Update neighbors of : - Neighbor
: (updated via !) - Neighbor
: (via ) - Neighbor
: (via )
- Neighbor
-
Iteration 3: Minimum unvisited vertex: Vertex
( ). Add to : . Update neighbors of : - Neighbor
: (updated via !)
- Neighbor
-
Iteration 4: Minimum unvisited vertex: Vertex
( ). Add to : . Update neighbors of : - Neighbor
: (updated via !)
- Neighbor
-
Iteration 5: Select remaining vertex: Vertex
( ). . All vertices visited.
3. Shortest Paths and Distances from
: - To
: Path , Distance = 3 - To
: Path , Distance = 2 - To
: Path , Distance = 8 - To
: Path , Distance = 10
- [10]
Define a Boolean Algebra. State and prove De Morgan’s Laws in Boolean algebra using truth tables and algebraic simplification.
View model solution
Boolean Algebra and De Morgan’s Laws
1. Definition of Boolean Algebra
A Boolean algebra is an algebraic structure
consisting of a set with two binary operations (OR), (AND), a unary operation (NOT), and two special elements 0 and 1, satisfying: - Closure under
and - Commutative laws:
and - Associative laws:
and - Distributive laws:
and - Identity laws:
and - Complement laws:
and
2. De Morgan’s Laws
- First Law:
(The complement of a sum equals the product of the complements). - Second Law:
(The complement of a product equals the sum of the complements).
3. Truth Table Verification
0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 Columns 6 and 7 are identical, proving
. Columns 9 and 10 are identical, proving . - Closure under
Group C
Comprehensive Answer / Case Analysis Question. Attempt ALL questions.
[1 × 20 = 20]- [20]
Case Study: Telecommunication Network Design, Spanning Trees, and Database Relational Algebra
Nepal Telecom is designing an optical fiber backbone network to connect six regional administrative centers: Kathmandu (
), Pokhara ( ), Biratnagar ( ), Butwal ( ), Nepalgunj ( ), and Dhangadhi ( ). The fiber laying costs (in Millions of NPR) between feasible direct optical links are given in the following symmetric distance table: Links (KTM) (PKR) (BRT) (BTW) (NPJ) (DHN) — 20 35 28 — — 20 — — 15 30 — 35 — — 40 — — 28 15 40 — 22 — — 30 — 22 — 18 — — — — 18 — Simultaneously, the billing database department manages relational tables
and . Required: a) Use Kruskal’s Algorithm to find the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) for connecting all six regional telecom hubs. List every edge added in sorted order, show that no cycles are formed, and compute the minimum total laying cost. (8 Marks) b) Use Prim’s Algorithm starting at Kathmandu (
) to construct the MST step by step. Verify that the resulting MST and total cost match Kruskal’s result. (6 Marks) c) Express the relational database query to ‘Retrieve customer Name and PlanName for all customers paying a MonthlyFee greater than Rs. 1,000’ using formal Relational Algebra operators (Selection , Projection , Natural Join ). (6 Marks) View model solution
Comprehensive Case Analysis Solution
a) Kruskal’s Algorithm for Minimum Spanning Tree (MST)
A graph with
vertices requires an MST with exactly edges. -
Sort all candidate edges in non-decreasing order of cost:
-
Step-by-Step Edge Selection:
- Edge 1: Pick
with weight 15. Connects . No cycle. (Accepted) - Edge 2: Pick
with weight 18. Connects . No cycle. (Accepted) - Edge 3: Pick
with weight 20. Connects . No cycle. (Accepted) - Edge 4: Pick
with weight 22. Connects . No cycle. (Accepted) - Next edge in list:
. Vertices and are already in the same component . Adding creates cycle . (Rejected) - Next edge:
. Both in same component. Forms cycle. (Rejected) - Edge 5: Pick
with weight 35. Connects to component. No cycle. (Accepted)
- Edge 1: Pick
All 6 vertices are connected with 5 edges.
- Total Minimum Laying Cost:
b) Prim’s Algorithm Starting at Kathmandu (
) - Initial tree
. - Step 1: Incident edges from
: , , . Minimum edge: with weight 20. . - Step 2: Incident edges from
to unvisited: , , , . Minimum edge: with weight 15. . - Step 3: Incident edges from
to unvisited: , , , . Minimum edge: with weight 22. . - Step 4: Incident edges from
to unvisited: , , . Minimum edge: with weight 18. . - Step 5: Incident edges to remaining unvisited vertex
: , . Minimum edge: with weight 35. .
Verification: Edges selected by Prim:
. Total cost (Matches Kruskal’s exact tree!).
c) Relational Algebra Formulation
Given schemas:
The relational algebra expression:
Operational Steps:
- Selection (
): Filters rows in relation where the monthly fee exceeds Rs. 1,000. - Natural Join (
): Joins filtered plans with customer records on the common attribute . - Projection (
): Extracts only the customer Name and PlanName attributes in the final result relation.
-