In the country of
Infinity , there is a strange road. This road only has a starting point, but no end. Since this road is infinite, there are also countless street lights. The street lights are numbered from $1$(the starting point) to infinity. The street lights are connected by wires under a strange law:
For a street light $x$,
- if $x$ is even, then $x$ is connected with $\frac{x}{2}$ by a wire;
- if $x$ is odd, then $x$ and $3x + 1$ is connected by a wire.
Now Kris is standing in the middle of street light $n$ and $n + 1$, and he is able to cut all wires passing by. That is, he will cut all wires connecting street lights $a$ and $b$ satisfying $a \leq n$ and $b > n$.
Now he wonders, how many wires he will cut. Please help him calculate.