Can you help me prove this?

Question

I need to prove that for all positve numbers that this works.
so you start with a number if it is even you divide by 2. If it is odd you times it by 3 and add 1. therefore making it even. you are always supposed to end up getting to 1 in the end. here is an example

3,10,5,16,8,4,2,1

PatsyAnn: I only showed that it worked in that one situation not always.

Answer 1

This is known as the Collatz conjecture (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collatz_conjecture ). No proof for this conjecture has yet been discovered - if you find one, tell the field.

Oh, and PatsyAnn, showing that something works in one particular case does not constitute a proof that it works in all cases.

Answer 2

1.) 1, 4, 2, 1
13.) 13, 40, 20, 10, 5, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1
22.) 22, 11, 34, 17, 52, 26, 13, 40, 20, 10, 5, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1
78.) 39, 118, 59, 178, 89, 268, 134, 67, 202, 101, 304, 152, 76, 38, 19, 58, 29, 88, 44, 22, 11, 34, 17, 52, 26, 13, 40, 20, 10, 5, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1

it all eventually leads to 1...EVENTUALLY

Answer 3

Hey, Doc,
This is a "crummy" answer, but to the best of my "limited" mathematical knowledge, YES.

Final Answer (lol)
C-Ya,
Catnip

P.S. How's that "girl thing working out? Did you like my response?

Answer 4

100,50,25,75,76,38,1957,58,24,
12,6,3,9,10,5,15,16,8,4,2,1...!!!!
wow it even works for the long ones thanks man im gonna show my teacher thanks again thats kool
WAIT... I STARTED WITH 7 AND I
DID WHAT THE FORMULA IS AND
Y NUMBER GETS HIGHER AND
HIGHER...7.21.22.11.33.34.17.
1.62.31.93.94.47.141.142.71.213.
214.107.... so i think the formula
only works for even and odd but
not all the numbers????????

Answer 5

i tried it and it works. Crazy how math works huh

Answer 6

thats right

Answer 7

you did prove it...great job!!!