chap non-binary trees parent' index node index label figure the parent pointer array implementation each node corresponds to position in the node array stores its value and pointer to its parent the parent pointers are represented by the position in the array of the parent the root of any tree stores rootrepresented graphically by slash in the "parent' indexbox this figure shows two trees stored in the same parent pointer arrayone rooted at rand the other rooted at figure graph with two connected components equivalence classes can be managed efficiently with the union/find algorithm initiallyeach object is at the root of its own tree an equivalence pair is processed by checking to see if both objects of the pair are in the same tree using function differ if they are in the same treethen no change need be made because the objects are already in the same equivalence class otherwisethe two equivalence classes should be merged by the union function example as an example of solving the equivalence class problemconsider the graph of figure initiallywe assume that each node of the graph is in distinct equivalence class this is represented by storing each as the root of its own tree figure (ashows this initial configuration