Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site allegra.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!jpl From: jpl@allegra.UUCP (John P. Linderman) Newsgroups: net.math Subject: Re: Puzzle, and a bizarre sequence (the 3n+1 problem) Message-ID: <2658@allegra.UUCP> Date: Thu, 2-Aug-84 08:29:00 EDT Article-I.D.: allegra.2658 Posted: Thu Aug 2 08:29:00 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 3-Aug-84 23:55:38 EDT References: <1262@nsc.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill Lines: 7 If there is a least integer for which the problem fails to converge, we can be sure it will be of the form 4n+3. This is a fairly simple exercise that I will leave to the reader, with the clue that the number is necessarily of the form 4n, 4n+1, 4n+2 or 4n+3, and being the least such number will eliminate the first 3 possibilities. John P. Linderman Department of Trivial Observations allegra!jpl