Take any whole number greater than one.

1. If the number is odd, multiply it by three and add one.
2. If it is even divide it by two.
2a. If the result is still even, continue to divide by two until the result is odd.
3. Continue steps 1 and 2 until you get the same number twice.

[For example starting with 9 -> 28 -> 14 -> 7 which is considered one iteration. The next iteration brings this to 11.]

What number(s) does this process terminate at?
What starting value less than 200 takes the most iterations to terminate?

Justin, I feel your program deserves a name and should be burried/named/recognized in a thread in the forums.

Posted by Hugo on 2006-02-03 21:05:03