Is Tripling Odd Numbers Necessary in the Collatz Conjecture?

[fizzzzzzzzzzzy]

Hey, i was reading about the Collatz conjecture, where, if you take a integer, divide it by 2 if its even and triple it then add one if it's odd, and do it over and over again, the result would be one. I was thinking, "wouldnt it have the same effect if you didnt triple odd numbers?" am i wrong?

 

[matt grime]

"the same effect"? What do you mean? What you've just described is clearly different, and obviously converges to 1 (after any two operations, you must have decreased the number you started with, hence it must converge).