Question 7
George encodes a word in two steps:
1. Read left to right and concatenate the letters in odd-numbered positions. For example, bread gives bed.
2. Read right to left and append all the remaining letters. Thus bread becomes bedar after both steps.
Repeated encoding eventually returns the original word. For example, milk returns after three encodings: milk → mlki → mkil → milk. How many encodings are needed for society to return to its original form?
1. Read left to right and concatenate the letters in odd-numbered positions. For example, bread gives bed.
2. Read right to left and append all the remaining letters. Thus bread becomes bedar after both steps.
Repeated encoding eventually returns the original word. For example, milk returns after three encodings: milk → mlki → mkil → milk. How many encodings are needed for society to return to its original form?