N = 10 Keys, M = 10 chains, Load Factor=1; good hash function Here the average chain length is N/M = 1. With the "good" hash function, increasing the chains means: chain length 0 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 4 1 5 1 ... ... 9 1 The average chain length is now 1 instead of 2, and For a successful find key probes 1-st 1 2nd 1 3rd 1 ... ... 10th 1 ------ ----- total 10 Average #probes for successful find is slightly better = 10/10 = 1