title: when is insertion sort faster than merge sort?
body: <p>For a homework problem, I was told that insertion sort runs at 8n^2 and that merge sort runs at 64(n(lg n)). As part of the solution I was given, it said that insertion sort was faster than merge sort as long as n &lt;= 43, but the teacher's answer doesn't really explain why or how he arrived at 43. Can anyone explain this? I'm not that great with figuring out run times so I'm trying to get a better understanding. And yes, I tried asking the teacher, but I was still confused. Any help would be great! thank you!</p>