How many edges does a spanning tree of a graph with N vertices have?

Asked In: BPSC TRE 3.0

Options

  • A. N
  • B. N-1
  • C. N(N-1)/2
  • D. More than one of the above
  • E. None of the above

Correct Answer (Detailed Explanation is Below)

B. N-1

Detailed Explanation

A spanning tree of a connected graph containing N vertices always has exactly N - 1 edges. A spanning tree includes all vertices of the original graph, remains connected, and contains no cycle. In general, every tree with N vertices has N - 1 edges. If an additional edge is added to a tree, it creates a cycle. This property is fundamental to graph theory and minimum spanning tree algorithms.