C free() routine and incremented array pointers

Question

Will the free() routine work if I dynamically allocate an array and then pass, not the initial pointer, but a pointer to the middle of the array? Example:

Answer 1

Absolutely not. The value passed to free() must be exactly the same value returned by malloc(). In fact, to ensure this is the case, I would recommend you use a copy of the pointer if you need a pointer you can increment or otherwise modify.