title: Algorithm: Find index of 2nd smallest element from an unknown array
body: <p>I have been pondering about my homework question for a while. I welcome (and prefer) any suggestions or approach on how to attack this problem.</p>
  
  <p>Basically, I have an array A of size N. We do not know the elements but we know they are distinct. The only thing that I have is a person who will take two indices (i,j) in N. This person will then tell me whether A[j] is &lt; or > A[i]. I want to find the algorithm for finding the index of the 2nd smallest element by asking &lt;= n + log n questions to this person.</p>