Database Management Systems Aditya College of Engineering & Technology

GATE-1999
1. Let R= (A, B, C, D, E, F) be a relation scheme with the following dependencies: C->F, E->A, EC->D, A-
>B. Which of the following is a key for R?
(a) CD (b) EC (c) AE (d) AC

Ans: option (b)

Explanation:
Find the closure set of all the options given. If any closure covers all the attributes of the relation R then that is
the key.
Algorithm to find Closure Set
Step1: Equate an attribute or attributes to X for which closure needs to be identified.
Step2: Take each FD (functional dependency) one by one and check whether the left side of FD is available in
X, if yes then add the right side attributes to X if it is not available.
Step3: Repeat step 2 as many times as possible to cover all FD's.
Step4: After no more attributes can be added to X declare it as the closure set.

FDs: C->F, E->A, EC->D, A->B

Find closure set for CD.
X = CD
= CDF {C->F}
No more attributes can be added to X. Hence closure set of CD = CDF
Find closure set for EC.
X = EC
= ECF {C->F}
= ECFA {E->A}
= ECFAD {EC->D}
= ECFADB {A->B}
Closure set of EC covers all the attributes of the relation R.

GATE-2000
2. Given the following relation instance.
-------
X Y Z
-------
1 4 2
1 5 3
1 6 3
3 2 2
-------
Which of the following functional dependencies are satisfied by the instance?
(a) XY -> Z and Z -> Y
(b) YZ -> X and Y -> Z
(c) YZ -> X and X -> Z
(d) XZ -> Y and Y -> X

Ans: option (b)

Explanation:
Association among attributes is known as Functional Dependencies (FD). A FD X->Y require that the value of
X uniquely determines the value of Y where X and Y are set of attributes.

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For example,
Roll_No -> Name: the value of Roll_No uniquely determines the Name.
Roll_No, Book_No -> Issue_Date : In the case of library, Roll_No and Book_No can determine the Issue_Date
of a book.

In option (a), its given Z->Y, it means that the value of Z uniquely determines the value of Y. But here the
value 2 of Z, gives two different values of Y i.e. 4 and 2. Therefore this FD is not satisfied by the instance.
In option (c), its given X->Z, it means that the value of X uniquely determines the value of Z. But here the
value 1 of X, gives two different values of Z i.e. 2 and 3. Therefore this FD is not satisfied by the instance.
n option (d), its given Y->X, here the value of Y uniquely determines the value of X. Therefore this FD is
satisfied by the instance. Now take FD XZ->Y, here (1,3) cannot uniquely determine the value of Y. (1,3)
gives two values for Y i.e. 5 and 6. Therefore this FD (XZ->Y) is not satisfied by the instance.

GATE-2002
3. From the following instance of a relational schema R(A, B, C), we can conclude that:
----------
A B C
----------
1 1 1
1 1 0
2 3 2
2 3 2
----------
(a) A functionally determines B and B functionally determines C
(b) A functionally determines B and B does not functionally determine C
(c) B does not functionally determine C
(d) A does not functionally determine B and B does not functionally determine C

Ans: option (c)

Explanation:
Looking into an instance we can't conclude that A functionally determines B. A->B could hold true to the
given instance but not on the entire database. But we can be sure that B does not functionally determine C
because for the value 1 of B, it gives two different values of C i.e. 1 & 0.
Issue in option (d) - Again from the provided instance we cannot say that A does not determine B. A->B may
or may not hold. Therefore only possible option is (c).

GATE-2005
4. Consider a relation scheme R = (A, B, C, D, E, H) on which the following functional dependencies hold:
{A–>B, BC–>D, E–>C, D–>A}. What are the candidate keys of R?
(a) AE, BE
(b) AE, BE, DE
(c) AEH, BEH, BCH
(d) AEH, BEH, DEH

Ans: option (d)

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Explanation:
If you focus on the right side of the functional dependencies you can see that E & H cannot be derived using
the left side of functional dependencies. Hence E & H will definitely be part of the candidate key. Therefore
only option (d) satisfies such condition.
If any closure includes all attributes of a table then it becomes the candidate key. Find closure (As explained
in question 1) of AEH as below.
Closure of AEH = AEHB {A->B}
= AEHBC {E->C}
= AEHBCD {BC->D}

GATE-2005(IT)
5. In a schema with attributes A, B, C, D and E, following set of functional dependencies are given:
A->B
A->C
CD->E
B->D
E->A
Which of the following functional dependencies is NOT implied by the above set?
(a) CD->AC (b) BD->CD (c) BC->CD (d) AC->BC

Ans: option (b)

Explanation:
For every options given, find the closure set of left side of each FD. If the closure set of left side contains the
right side of the FD, then the particular FD is implied by the given set.
Option (a): Closure set of CD = CDEAB. Therefore CD->AC can be derived from the given set of FDs.
Option (c): Closure set of BC = BCDEA. Therefore BC->CD can be derived from the given set of FDs.
Option (d): Closure set of AC = ACBDE. Therefore AC->BC can be derived from the given set of FDs.
Option (b): Closure set of BD = BD. Therefore BD->CD cannot be derived from the given set of FDs.

GATE-2006
6. The following functional dependencies are given:
AB->CD, AF->D, DE->F, C->G , F->E, G->A
Which one of the following options is false?
(a)CF+ = {ACDEFG} (b)BG+ = {ABCDG}
(c)AF = {ACDEFG}
+
(d)AB+ = {ABCDFG}

Ans: option(c)
Explanation:
AF+ = {AFDE}
As explained in question 1, find the closure set of each options.
Option (d) is also false. AB+ = {ABCDG}.

GATE-2013
Linked question ( 7 & 8 )

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Database Management Systems Aditya College of Engineering & Technology

Relation R has eight attributes ABCDEFGH. Fields of R contain only atomic values.
F={CH->G, A->BC, B->CFH, E->A, F->EG} is a set of functional dependencies (FDs) so that F + is
exactly the set of FDs that hold for R.

7. How many candidate keys does the relation R have?

(a) 3 (b) 4 (c) 5 (d) 6

Ans: option (b)

Explanation:

In a relational database, a key helps to uniquely identify each record within a table . A key is a combination of
one or more fields/attributes in a table. If a relational schema has multiple keys,each key is a candidate key.
One of the candidate keys is chosen as the primary key.

To find the candidate keys, we need to find the closure of each attribute. (If x ia an attribute(field), set of
attributes determined by x under a set F of functional dependencies is the closure of x under F, denoted x+ ).

Thus,

A+:ABCFHGE

B+: BCFHEGA

C+:C

D+:D

E+: EABCFHG
F+:FEGABCH
G+:G
H+ : H
A+,B+,E+,F+ contains all attributes except D. Thus there are 4 candidate keys DA,DB,DE and DF.

8. The relation R is
(a) in 1NF, but not in 2NF.
(b) in 2NF, but not in 3NF.
(c) in 3NF, but not in BCNF.
(d) in BCNF.

Ans: option (a)

Explanation:
An attribute that does not occur in any candidate key is called a non-prime attribute.
(Reference :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candidate_key)

Consider F->G; G is a non-prime attribute and F is a proper subset of a candidate key (refer the above
question). This is a case of partial dependency. Hence 2NF condition is violated. similarly A->C and B->CFH
also violates 2NF condition, hence R is not in 2NF.

Since attributes of relation R has only atomic values, R is in 1NF.

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GATE - 2015
9. Consider the relation X(P, Q, R, S, T, U) with the following set of functional dependencies
F={
{P, R} → {S, T}
{P, S, U} → {Q, R}
}
Which of the following is the trivial functional dependency in F+ is closure of F?
(a) {P, R} → {S, T}
(b) {P, R} → {R, T}
(c) {P, S} → {S}
(d) {P, S, U} → {Q}

Ans: option (c)

Explanation:
A functional dependency X → Y is trivial, if Y is a subset of X.
In the above question , {S}is a subset of {P,S}. Hence option (c) is the answer.

GATE - 2014
10. Consider the relation scheme R=(E,F,G,H,I,J,K,L,M,N) and the set of functional dependencies
{{E,F}→{G},{F}→{I,J},{E,H}→{K,L},{K}→{M},{L}→{N}}
on R. What is the key for R?
(a) {E,F}
(b) {E,F,H}
(c) {E,F,H,K,L}
(d) {E}

Ans: option (b)

Explanation:
Find closure set of all options. But as you can notice that H cannot be derived from any of the above functional
dependencies it means that H should be present in the key. Therefore we need to check only the closure set of
option b and option c which contains H.
Since EFH+ derives all the attributes in the relation R it is the candidate key. Note that option (c) is the super
key since adding zero or more attributes to candidate key generates super key.

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Department of CSE MID 1 Important Questions