Question

Suppose you have a list containing k integer numbers. Each number could be positive, negative, or zero. Write pseudocode for a program that first asks the user for each of the numbers. After that, it should determine and display the number from the list that is nearest to the positive number five (5).

Notes:
1. Try working this out for k = 4 and k = 5. See if you can find an algorithmic pattern that can be extended for any value of k.
2. For those of you who have prior programming experience, think about how you might simulate this process using arrays.

Answer 1

Thanks for the question, Here is the algorthm using Arrays

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DECLARE numbers[3] as INTEGER

num <- GET 'First number: "
numbers[0] <- num

num <- GET 'Second number: "
numbers[1] <- num

num <- GET 'Third number: "
numbers[2] <- num

closest_num = numbers[0]

for i = 0 to 2:

if ABSOLUTE_VALUE(5-numbers[i])<ABSOLUTE_VALUE(5-closest_num)
closest_num = numbers[i]

i <- i + 1

OUTPUT closest_num

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Code in C Language

#include<iostream>
#include<math.h>
using namespace std;

int main(){
  
   int numbers[3];
   int compare_to = 5;
  
   printf("Enter first number: "); scanf("%d", &numbers[0]);
   printf("Enter second number: "); scanf("%d", &numbers[1]);
   printf("Enter third number: "); scanf("%d", &numbers[2]);
  
   int closet_number = numbers[0];
  
   int i;
   for(i=0; i<3; i++){
       if(abs(closet_number-compare_to)>abs(numbers[i]-compare_to))
           closet_number = numbers[i];
   }
  
   printf("The nearest number to %d is %d", compare_to, closet_number);

   return 0;
}

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