#2160

Minimum Sum of Four Digit Number After Splitting Digits

Easy
MathGreedySortingSortingGreedy Algorithms
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Approaches

Brute ForceOptimal
Complexity Comparison
Brute ForceOptimal Solution
Time
O(n²)
O(n log n)
Space
O(1)
O(n)
💡

Intuition

Time O(n log n)Space O(n)

By sorting the digits and strategically pairing the smallest digits, we can construct the two smallest two-digit numbers efficiently. This minimizes the sum without needing to check every combination.

⚙️

Algorithm

4 steps
  1. 1Step 1: Extract the digits from the number and store them in an array.
  2. 2Step 2: Sort the array of digits.
  3. 3Step 3: Form two two-digit numbers using the smallest digits: new1 from the first and third smallest, new2 from the second and fourth smallest.
  4. 4Step 4: Return the sum of new1 and new2.
solution.py3 lines
1def minimumSum(num):
2    digits = sorted([int(d) for d in str(num)])
3    return (digits[0] * 10 + digits[2]) + (digits[1] * 10 + digits[3])

Complexity note: The time complexity is O(n log n) due to the sorting step, while the space complexity is O(n) for storing the digits. This is efficient given the fixed size of n (4).

  • 1Sorting the digits allows for optimal pairing to minimize the sum.
  • 2Using the two smallest digits in the tens place of the two numbers minimizes their overall contribution.

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