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GATE DA 2026 Q61: Relations needed for an ER model with a multivalued attribute

Question

Consider an ER model with the entities E1(A11, A12, A13) and E2(A21, A22, A23), where, A11, A12, A13 are the attributes of E1, and A21, A22, A23 are the attributes of E2. Let A22 be a multi-valued attribute. A11 and A21 are the primary keys of E1 and E2, respectively.

Let R12 be a many-to-many relationship between E1 and E2. Participation of both E1 and E2 in R12 is total.

The minimum number of relations required to convert the ER model into relational model (assuming there is no other functional dependency) where each relation is in third normal form (3NF) is __________. (Answer in integer)

Try it: numerical answer: type the value

Numerical answer. No negative marking.
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Answer: 4 (official GATE 2026 final answer key)

Concept used: ER to relational: one relation per entity, one for each many-to-many relationship, and one for each multivalued attribute.

First step: E1, E2 (without A22), R12 (A11, A21) and a separate relation (A21, A22) for the multivalued attribute.

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Source: official GATE 2026 DA question paper and final answer key, organised by IIT Guwahati. Question paper · Answer key

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