Binary Search Tree – Number of comparisons when element is not found I am confused regarding Binary Search Trees (BST) when an element does not exist in the tree. 

For example, to search for element "6", would it take 5 comparisons to search for this element?

My understanding is:


Compare root (Not found - move left)
Compare left node (Not found - move left)
Compare left node (Not found - move right)
Compare right node (Not found, move right)
No right node (6 does not exist)


Is my understanding correct? Would it take 5 comparisons to attempt to search for 6 in this BST?
There are only 4 comparisons: the element 6 is compared to the elements 9,7,4,5.