bobossler / collatz-conjecture

Python program testing the Collatz Conjecture, also known as the 3n+1 problem.

collatz-conjecture

Python program testing the Collatz Conjecture, also known as the 3n+1 problem.

What is the Collatz Conjecture?

The Collatz Conjecture is a conjecture in mathematics that concerns a sequence defined as follows: start with a positive integer n. Then each item is obtained from the previous term as follows: if the previous term is even, the next term is one half of the previous term. If the previous term is odd, the next term is 3 times the previous term plus 1. The conjecture is that no matter what value of n, the sequence will always reach 1.

For more info: Wikipedia

Purpose of the Program

I am writing a program that will confirm that when the Collatz Conjecture is applied to positive integers, the sequence will end with 1. This is not a proof. For more information on why the conjecture is not proven, see the link above.

The program flow:

1. Take a starting positive integer
2. Determine if the integer is even or odd
3. If even, divide the integer by 2
4. If odd, multiply the integer by 3 and add 1
5. Check the result: if 1 end, else repeat

Program Usage

usage: collatz [-h] [-t] [-w] N

Compute the Collatz-Conjecture

positional arguments: N The starting integer to compute from

options: -h, --help show this help message and exit -t, --trajectory Display the highest number (trajectory) in the list -w, --wide Display the list horizontal rather than vertical

License

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collatz.py is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later

See LICENSE to see the full text.

Things To Do

• Do more than just print results to screen; maybe write to a file
• Integrate with a db to catalog all sequneces created