The maximum number of comparisons needed to sort 9 items using radix sort is…

Answer: 360

Explanation:

• There are 5 digits per item (each digit is octal).

• Each octal digit can take 8 values (0–7), so there are 8 buckets per pass.

• If the bucket for an item is found by checking bucket labels sequentially (a naive approach), an item may require up to 8 comparisons to find its bucket in the worst case.

• So worst-case comparisons = number of passes × items × comparisons per item = 5 × 9 × 8 = 360.

Note: Radix sort itself is a non-comparative technique. The 360 figure counts comparisons in a naive bucket-selection implementation (linear search among bucket labels). If buckets are accessed directly (constant-time mapping), these comparisons would not be needed.