Edexcel D1 — Question 1

Exam BoardEdexcel
ModuleD1 (Decision Mathematics 1)
TopicMinimum Spanning Trees

  1. This question should be answered on the sheet provided.
A cable TV company wishes to link 5 villages in the Scottish Highlands. The table below shows the shortest distances, in kilometres, between these 5 villages.
DurnessHelmsdaleInvernessThursoWick
Durness-681238192
Helmsdale68-1027264
Inverness123102-148127
Thurso8172148-48
Wick926412748-
  1. Starting at Thurso, use Prim's algorithm to find a minimum spanning tree. You should make your method clear, indicating the order in which you selected the arcs in your final tree.
  2. Calculate the minimum total length of cable required.