What is the time complexity of searching for an element in a balanced binary search tree?

The time complexity of searching for an element in a balanced binary search tree is O(log n), where 'n' represents the number of nodes in the tree. This logarithmic complexity arises because a balanced binary search tree maintains a relatively small height, typically proportional to the logarithm of the number of nodes. During a search operation, at each node, the search space is effectively halved by deciding whether to proceed to the left or right child. This process is analogous to binary search in a sorted array, where each comparison eliminates half of the remaining elements. Therefore, the number of steps required to locate an element in a balanced BST grows logarithmically with the size of the tree.