C program to find the third largest element in an array using bubble sort

August 16, 2026

Merge Sort in C++

Merge Sort in C++ Introduction Merge Sort is a popular sorting algorithm that follows the Divide and Conquer approach. It divides an array into smaller subarrays, recursively sorts those subarrays, and finally merges the sorted subarrays to produce a completely sorted array. In this tutorial, we will learn how to implement Merge Sort in C++ . The program divides the array into two halves using the mid index, recursively sorts both halves, and then combines them using the merge() function. Merge Sort has a time complexity of O(n log n) in the best, average, and worst cases. Table of Contents Algorithm C++ Program Input Sample Output Output Explanation Dry Run Flow of Execution Time Complexity Space Complexity Applications Key Points Interview Questions Frequently Asked Questions Keywords Conclusion Algorithm Start the program. Read the size of the array. Read the array elements from the user. Call the mer...

C PROGRAM TO FIND THE THIRD LARGEST ELEMENT USING BUBBLE SORT

Source Code:

#include<stdio.h>

int thirdlargest(int a[], int num)
{
    for(int i = 0; i < num - 1; i++)
    {
        for(int j = 0; j < num - i - 1; j++)
        {
            if(a[j] > a[j+1])
            {
                int temp = a[j];
                a[j] = a[j+1];
                a[j+1] = temp;
            }
        }
    }
    printf("Third largest element in the array: %d\n", a[num - 3]);
}

int main()
{
    int num;
    printf("Enter the size of the array:\n");
    scanf("%d", &num);
    
    if(num < 3)
    {
        printf("Invalid! Need at least 3 numbers to find the third largest element.\n");
        return 1;
    }
    
    int a[num];
    printf("Enter %d elements:\n", num);
    for(int i = 0; i < num; i++)
    {
        scanf("%d", &a[i]);
    }
    
    thirdlargest(a, num);
    return 0;
}

Explanation:

This program uses the bubble sort method to find the third largest number in an array:

It first sorts the array in ascending order.
After sorting, the third largest number is the element at position num - 3.
It checks if the array has at least 3 elements before processing.

Sample Output:

Enter the size of the array:
6
Enter 6 elements:
10 25 33 50 8 40
Third largest element in the array: 33

Keywords:

third largest element in C, bubble sort example, array sorting in C, basic C programs with output, C programming questions

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