Minimum cost to empty Array where cost of removing an element is 2^(removed_count) * arr[i]

Namachila November 18, 2025

0 0 4 minutes read

Given an array arr[], the task is to find the minimum cost to remove all elements from the array where the cost of removing an element is 2^j * arr[i]. Here, j is the number of elements that have already been removed.

Examples:

Input: arr[] = {3, 1, 3, 2}
Output: 25
Explanation:
First remove 3. Cost = 2^(0)*3 = 3
Then remove 3. Cost = 2^(1)*3 = 6
Then remove 2. Cost = 2^(2)*2 = 8
At last, remove 1. Cost = 2^(3)*1 = 8
Total Cost = 3 + 6 + 8 + 8 = 25

Input: arr[] = {1, 2}
Output: 4
Explanation:
First remove 2. Cost = 2^(0)*2 = 2
Then remove 1. Cost = 2^(1)*1 = 2
Total Cost = 2 + 2 = 4

Approach: The idea is to use a greedy programming paradigm to solve this problem.
We have to minimize the expression ( 2^j * arr[i] ). This can be done by:

Sort the Array in Decreasing order.
Multiply pow(2, i) with every element i, starting from 0 to the size of the array.

Therefore, the total cost of removing elements from the array is given as:

$\text{Total Cost = }arr[0]*2^{0} + arr[1] * 2^{1} + .... arr[n]*2^{n}$

when the array is in decreasing order.

Below is the implementation of the above approach:

C++

// C++ implementation to find the
// minimum cost of removing all
// elements from the array
 
#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;
 
#define ll long long int
// Function to find the minimum
// cost of removing elements from
// the array
int removeElements(ll arr[], int n)
{
 
    // Sorting in Increasing order
    sort(arr, arr + n, greater<int>());
    ll ans = 0;
     
    // Loop to find the minimum
    // cost of removing elements
    for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
        ans += arr[i] * pow(2, i);
    }
 
    return ans;
}
 
// Driver Code
int main()
{
    int n = 4;
    ll arr[n] = { 3, 1, 2, 3 };
 
    // Function Call
    cout << removeElements(arr, n);
}

Java

// Java implementation to find the
// minimum cost of removing all
// elements from the array
import java.util.*;
 
class GFG{
 
// Reverse array in decreasing order
static long[] reverse(long a[])
{
    int i, n = a.length;
    long t;
     
    for(i = 0; i < n / 2; i++)
    {
        t = a[i];
        a[i] = a[n - i - 1];
        a[n - i - 1] = t;
    }
    return a;
}
 
// Function to find the minimum
// cost of removing elements from
// the array
static long removeElements(long arr[],
                           int n)
{
     
    // Sorting in Increasing order
    Arrays.sort(arr);
    arr = reverse(arr);
 
    long ans = 0;
 
    // Loop to find the minimum
    // cost of removing elements
    for(int i = 0; i < n; i++)
    {
        ans += arr[i] * Math.pow(2, i);
    }
    return ans;
}
 
// Driver Code
public static void main(String[] args)
{
    int n = 4;
    long arr[] = { 3, 1, 2, 3 };
 
    // Function call
    System.out.print(removeElements(arr, n));
}
}
 
// This code is contributed by amal kumar choubey

Python3

# Python3 implementation to find the
# minimum cost of removing all
# elements from the array
 
# Function to find the minimum
# cost of removing elements from
# the array
def removeElements(arr, n):
 
    # Sorting in Increasing order
    arr.sort(reverse = True)
    ans = 0
 
    # Loop to find the minimum
    # cost of removing elements
    for i in range(n):
        ans += arr[i] * pow(2, i)
 
    return ans
 
# Driver Code
if __name__ == "__main__":
     
    n = 4
    arr = [ 3, 1, 2, 3 ]
 
    # Function call
    print(removeElements(arr, n))
     
# This code is contributed by chitranayal

C#

// C# implementation to find the
// minimum cost of removing all
// elements from the array
using System;
 
class GFG{
 
// Reverse array in decreasing order
static long[] reverse(long []a)
{
    int i, n = a.Length;
    long t;
     
    for(i = 0; i < n / 2; i++)
    {
        t = a[i];
        a[i] = a[n - i - 1];
        a[n - i - 1] = t;
    }
    return a;
}
 
// Function to find the minimum
// cost of removing elements from
// the array
static long removeElements(long []arr,
                           int n)
{
     
    // Sorting in Increasing order
    Array.Sort(arr);
    arr = reverse(arr);
 
    long ans = 0;
 
    // Loop to find the minimum
    // cost of removing elements
    for(int i = 0; i < n; i++)
    {
        ans += (long)(arr[i] * Math.Pow(2, i));
    }
    return ans;
}
 
// Driver Code
public static void Main(String[] args)
{
    int n = 4;
    long []arr = { 3, 1, 2, 3 };
 
    // Function call
    Console.Write(removeElements(arr, n));
}
}
 
// This code is contributed by amal kumar choubey

Javascript

<script>
      // JavaScript implementation to find the
      // minimum cost of removing all
      // elements from the array
      // Function to find the minimum
      // cost of removing elements from
      // the array
      function removeElements(arr, n) {
        // Sorting in Increasing order
        arr.sort((a, b) => b - a);
 
        var ans = 0;
 
        // Loop to find the minimum
        // cost of removing elements
        for (var i = 0; i < n; i++) {
          ans += arr[i] * Math.pow(2, i);
        }
        return ans;
      }
 
      // Driver Code
      var n = 4;
      var arr = [3, 1, 2, 3];
 
      // Function call
      document.write(removeElements(arr, n));
</script>

Output

Time Complexity: O(N * log N)
Auxiliary Space: O(1)

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