Consider the schema R = (S, T, U, V) and the functional dependencies S→T, T→U,…

1999

Consider the schema R = (S, T, U, V) and the functional dependencies S→T, T→U, U→V and V→S. The relation R is:

  1. A.

    Not in 2NF

  2. B.

    In 2NF but not in 3NF

  3. C.

    In 3NF but not in 2NF

  4. D.

    In both 2NF and 3NF

Attempted by 83 students.

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Correct answer: D

The correct answer is: In both 2NF and 3NF.

Compute the closures using the given functional dependencies:
S+ = {S, T, U, V}
T+ = {T, U, V, S}
U+ = {U, V, S, T}
V+ = {V, S, T, U}

Thus S, T, U and V are all candidate keys. Every non-trivial dependency has a candidate key on its left-hand side, so the relation is actually in BCNF.

Since BCNF implies 3NF, and 3NF implies 2NF for this classification, R is in both 2NF and 3NF.

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