Kth Smallest Element in an Array (Python)

Problem Statement Given an array arr[] and an integer k, find the kth smallest element in the array. The kth smallest element is based on the sorted order of the array. Examples Input: arr = [10, 5, 4, 3, 48, 6, 2, 33, 53, 10], k = 4 Output: 5 Input: arr = [7, 10, 4, 3, 20, 15], k = 3 Output: 7 Objective • Sort the array (or logically determine order) • Return the element at position k-1 ________________________________________Approach 1: Sorting Method (Simple & Clear) Idea • Sort the array in ascending order • The kth smallest element will be at index k-1 Python Code arr = [10, 5, 4, 3, 48, 6, 2, 33, 53, 10] k = 4 arr.sort() print(arr[k-1]) Step-by-Step Original array: [10, 5, 4, 3, 48, 6, 2, 33, 53, 10] Sorted array: [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 10, 33, 48, 53] 4th smallest → index 3 → 5 Complexity • Time: O(n log n) (due to sorting) • Space: O(1) Approach 2: Using Heap (Efficient) Idea • Use a min heap • Extract the smallest element k times Python Code import heapq arr = [10, 5, 4, 3, 4