# Collatz Conjecture The Collatz Conjecture or 3x+1 problem can be summarized as follows: Take any positive integer n. If n is even, divide n by 2 to get n / 2. If n is odd, multiply n by 3 and add 1 to get 3n + 1. Repeat the process indefinitely. The conjecture states that no matter which number you start with, you will always reach 1 eventually. Given a number n, return the number of steps required to reach 1. ## Examples Starting with n = 12, the steps would be as follows: 0. 12 1. 6 2. 3 3. 10 4. 5 5. 16 6. 8 7. 4 8. 2 9. 1 Resulting in 9 steps. So for input n = 12, the return value would be 9. ## Notes The Collatz Conjecture is only concerned with strictly positive integers, so your solution should raise a `ValueError` with a meaningful message if given 0 or a negative integer. ## Submitting Exercises Note that, when trying to submit an exercise, make sure the solution is in the `exercism/python/` directory. For example, if you're submitting `bob.py` for the Bob exercise, the submit command would be something like `exercism submit /python/bob/bob.py`. For more detailed information about running tests, code style and linting, please see the [help page](http://exercism.io/languages/python). ## Source An unsolved problem in mathematics named after mathematician Lothar Collatz [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3x_%2B_1_problem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3x_%2B_1_problem) ## Submitting Incomplete Solutions It's possible to submit an incomplete solution so you can see how others have completed the exercise.