Question

On a positive integer, you can perform any one of the following 3 steps.
1.) Subtract 1 from it. ( n = n - 1 )
2.) If its divisible by 2, divide by 2. ( if n % 2 == 0 , then n = n / 2 )
3.) If its divisible by 3, divide by 3. ( if n % 3 == 0 , then n = n / 3 ).
Now the question is, given a positive integer n, find the minimum number of steps that takes n to 1

Answer 1

Answer:

while ( n > 1)

{

if (n % 3 == 0)

n /= 3;

else if (n % 2 == 0)

n /= 2;

else

n--;

steps++;

}