{"group":{"id":1,"name":"Community","lockable":false,"created_at":"2012-01-18T18:02:15.000Z","updated_at":"2026-05-26T00:16:20.000Z","description":"Problems submitted by members of the MATLAB Central community.","is_default":true,"created_by":161519,"badge_id":null,"featured":false,"trending":false,"solution_count_in_trending_period":0,"trending_last_calculated":"2026-05-26T00:00:00.000Z","image_id":null,"published":true,"community_created":false,"status_id":2,"is_default_group_for_player":false,"deleted_by":null,"deleted_at":null,"restored_by":null,"restored_at":null,"description_opc":null,"description_html":null,"published_at":null},"problems":[{"id":1288,"title":"Balanced Ternary Numbers: Easy as |, |-, |o","description":"This problem concerns the so-called \u003chttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_ternary balanced ternary\u003e system for representing numbers. It is a Base 3 system in which the digits can be 1, 0, or -1. \r\n\r\nIn balanced ternary, the number 8 would be represented as 9 (or 3^2) minus 1 (or 3^0). Typographically we will use \"|\" for one, \"o\" for zero (that's a lower-case O), and \"-\" for negative one. So if the decimal input d is the number 8, the balanced ternary output is the string \"|o-\". Thus\r\n \r\n dec 8  =\u003e bt \"|o-\"\r\n\r\nHere are some more examples.\r\n\r\n dec 3  =\u003e bt \"|o\"\r\n dec 15 =\u003e bt \"|--o\"\r\n dec 52 =\u003e bt \"|-o-|\"\r\n \r\nGiven an integer d, return the string bt. Leading zeros should always be suppressed.","description_html":"\u003cp\u003eThis problem concerns the so-called \u003ca href = \"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_ternary\"\u003ebalanced ternary\u003c/a\u003e system for representing numbers. It is a Base 3 system in which the digits can be 1, 0, or -1.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn balanced ternary, the number 8 would be represented as 9 (or 3^2) minus 1 (or 3^0). Typographically we will use \"|\" for one, \"o\" for zero (that's a lower-case O), and \"-\" for negative one. So if the decimal input d is the number 8, the balanced ternary output is the string \"|o-\". Thus\u003c/p\u003e\u003cpre\u003e dec 8  =\u003e bt \"|o-\"\u003c/pre\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere are some more examples.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cpre\u003e dec 3  =\u003e bt \"|o\"\r\n dec 15 =\u003e bt \"|--o\"\r\n dec 52 =\u003e bt \"|-o-|\"\u003c/pre\u003e\u003cp\u003eGiven an integer d, return the string bt. Leading zeros should always be suppressed.\u003c/p\u003e","function_template":"function bt = balanced_ternary(d)\r\n  bt = 'o';\r\nend","test_suite":"%%\r\nd = 3;\r\nbt_correct = '|o';\r\nbt = balanced_ternary(d);\r\nassert(isequal(bt,bt_correct))\r\n\r\n%%\r\nd = 52;\r\nbt_correct = '|-o-|';\r\nbt = balanced_ternary(d);\r\nassert(isequal(bt,bt_correct))\r\n\r\n%%\r\nd = 182;\r\nbt_correct = '|-|-|-';\r\nbt = balanced_ternary(d);\r\nassert(isequal(bt,bt_correct))\r\n\r\n%%\r\nd = 26;\r\nbt_correct = '|oo-';\r\nbt = balanced_ternary(d);\r\nassert(isequal(bt,bt_correct))\r\n\r\n%%\r\nd = -5;\r\nbt_correct = '-||';\r\nbt = balanced_ternary(d);\r\nassert(isequal(bt,bt_correct))\r\n\r\n%%\r\nd = -164;\r\nbt_correct = '-|oo-|';\r\nbt = balanced_ternary(d);\r\nassert(isequal(bt,bt_correct))\r\n\r\n%%\r\nd = 512;\r\nbt_correct = '|-o|oo-';\r\nbt = balanced_ternary(d);\r\nassert(isequal(bt,bt_correct))\r\n\r\n","published":true,"deleted":false,"likes_count":3,"comments_count":1,"created_by":7,"edited_by":null,"edited_at":null,"deleted_by":null,"deleted_at":null,"solvers_count":84,"test_suite_updated_at":null,"rescore_all_solutions":false,"group_id":1,"created_at":"2013-02-21T23:26:14.000Z","updated_at":"2026-05-12T23:00:49.000Z","published_at":"2013-02-21T23:36:53.000Z","restored_at":null,"restored_by":null,"spam":false,"simulink":false,"admin_reviewed":false,"description_opc":"{\"relationships\":[{\"relationshipType\":\"http://schemas.mathworks.com/matlab/code/2013/relationships/document\",\"targetMode\":\"\",\"relationshipId\":\"rId1\",\"target\":\"/matlab/document.xml\"},{\"relationshipType\":\"http://schemas.mathworks.com/matlab/code/2013/relationships/output\",\"targetMode\":\"\",\"relationshipId\":\"rId2\",\"target\":\"/matlab/output.xml\"}],\"parts\":[{\"partUri\":\"/matlab/document.xml\",\"relationship\":[],\"contentType\":\"application/vnd.mathworks.matlab.code.document+xml\",\"content\":\"\u003c?xml version=\\\"1.0\\\" encoding=\\\"UTF-8\\\"?\u003e\\n\u003cw:document xmlns:w=\\\"http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main\\\"\u003e\u003cw:body\u003e\u003cw:p\u003e\u003cw:pPr\u003e\u003cw:pStyle w:val=\\\"text\\\"/\u003e\u003c/w:pPr\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003eThis problem concerns the so-called\u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003e \u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003cw:hyperlink w:docLocation=\\\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_ternary\\\"\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003ebalanced ternary\u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003c/w:hyperlink\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003e system for representing numbers. It is a Base 3 system in which the digits can be 1, 0, or -1.\u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003c/w:p\u003e\u003cw:p\u003e\u003cw:pPr\u003e\u003cw:pStyle w:val=\\\"text\\\"/\u003e\u003c/w:pPr\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003eIn balanced ternary, the number 8 would be represented as 9 (or 3^2) minus 1 (or 3^0). Typographically we will use \\\"|\\\" for one, \\\"o\\\" for zero (that's a lower-case O), and \\\"-\\\" for negative one. So if the decimal input d is the number 8, the balanced ternary output is the string \\\"|o-\\\". Thus\u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003c/w:p\u003e\u003cw:p\u003e\u003cw:pPr\u003e\u003cw:pStyle w:val=\\\"code\\\"/\u003e\u003c/w:pPr\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003e\u003c![CDATA[ dec 8  =\u003e bt \\\"|o-\\\"]]\u003e\u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003c/w:p\u003e\u003cw:p\u003e\u003cw:pPr\u003e\u003cw:pStyle w:val=\\\"text\\\"/\u003e\u003c/w:pPr\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003eHere are some more examples.\u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003c/w:p\u003e\u003cw:p\u003e\u003cw:pPr\u003e\u003cw:pStyle w:val=\\\"code\\\"/\u003e\u003c/w:pPr\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003e\u003c![CDATA[ dec 3  =\u003e bt \\\"|o\\\"\\n dec 15 =\u003e bt \\\"|--o\\\"\\n dec 52 =\u003e bt \\\"|-o-|\\\"]]\u003e\u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003c/w:p\u003e\u003cw:p\u003e\u003cw:pPr\u003e\u003cw:pStyle w:val=\\\"text\\\"/\u003e\u003c/w:pPr\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003eGiven an integer d, return the string bt. Leading zeros should always be suppressed.\u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003c/w:p\u003e\u003c/w:body\u003e\u003c/w:document\u003e\"},{\"partUri\":\"/matlab/output.xml\",\"contentType\":\"text/xml\",\"content\":\"\u003c?xml version=\\\"1.0\\\" encoding=\\\"UTF-8\\\" standalone=\\\"no\\\" ?\u003e\u003cembeddedOutputs\u003e\u003cmetaData\u003e\u003cevaluationState\u003emanual\u003c/evaluationState\u003e\u003clayoutState\u003ecode\u003c/layoutState\u003e\u003coutputStatus\u003eready\u003c/outputStatus\u003e\u003c/metaData\u003e\u003coutputArray type=\\\"array\\\"/\u003e\u003cregionArray type=\\\"array\\\"/\u003e\u003c/embeddedOutputs\u003e\"}]}"}],"problem_search":{"problems":[{"id":1288,"title":"Balanced Ternary Numbers: Easy as |, |-, |o","description":"This problem concerns the so-called \u003chttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_ternary balanced ternary\u003e system for representing numbers. It is a Base 3 system in which the digits can be 1, 0, or -1. \r\n\r\nIn balanced ternary, the number 8 would be represented as 9 (or 3^2) minus 1 (or 3^0). Typographically we will use \"|\" for one, \"o\" for zero (that's a lower-case O), and \"-\" for negative one. So if the decimal input d is the number 8, the balanced ternary output is the string \"|o-\". Thus\r\n \r\n dec 8  =\u003e bt \"|o-\"\r\n\r\nHere are some more examples.\r\n\r\n dec 3  =\u003e bt \"|o\"\r\n dec 15 =\u003e bt \"|--o\"\r\n dec 52 =\u003e bt \"|-o-|\"\r\n \r\nGiven an integer d, return the string bt. Leading zeros should always be suppressed.","description_html":"\u003cp\u003eThis problem concerns the so-called \u003ca href = \"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_ternary\"\u003ebalanced ternary\u003c/a\u003e system for representing numbers. It is a Base 3 system in which the digits can be 1, 0, or -1.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn balanced ternary, the number 8 would be represented as 9 (or 3^2) minus 1 (or 3^0). Typographically we will use \"|\" for one, \"o\" for zero (that's a lower-case O), and \"-\" for negative one. So if the decimal input d is the number 8, the balanced ternary output is the string \"|o-\". Thus\u003c/p\u003e\u003cpre\u003e dec 8  =\u003e bt \"|o-\"\u003c/pre\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere are some more examples.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cpre\u003e dec 3  =\u003e bt \"|o\"\r\n dec 15 =\u003e bt \"|--o\"\r\n dec 52 =\u003e bt \"|-o-|\"\u003c/pre\u003e\u003cp\u003eGiven an integer d, return the string bt. Leading zeros should always be suppressed.\u003c/p\u003e","function_template":"function bt = balanced_ternary(d)\r\n  bt = 'o';\r\nend","test_suite":"%%\r\nd = 3;\r\nbt_correct = '|o';\r\nbt = balanced_ternary(d);\r\nassert(isequal(bt,bt_correct))\r\n\r\n%%\r\nd = 52;\r\nbt_correct = '|-o-|';\r\nbt = balanced_ternary(d);\r\nassert(isequal(bt,bt_correct))\r\n\r\n%%\r\nd = 182;\r\nbt_correct = '|-|-|-';\r\nbt = balanced_ternary(d);\r\nassert(isequal(bt,bt_correct))\r\n\r\n%%\r\nd = 26;\r\nbt_correct = '|oo-';\r\nbt = balanced_ternary(d);\r\nassert(isequal(bt,bt_correct))\r\n\r\n%%\r\nd = -5;\r\nbt_correct = '-||';\r\nbt = balanced_ternary(d);\r\nassert(isequal(bt,bt_correct))\r\n\r\n%%\r\nd = -164;\r\nbt_correct = '-|oo-|';\r\nbt = balanced_ternary(d);\r\nassert(isequal(bt,bt_correct))\r\n\r\n%%\r\nd = 512;\r\nbt_correct = '|-o|oo-';\r\nbt = balanced_ternary(d);\r\nassert(isequal(bt,bt_correct))\r\n\r\n","published":true,"deleted":false,"likes_count":3,"comments_count":1,"created_by":7,"edited_by":null,"edited_at":null,"deleted_by":null,"deleted_at":null,"solvers_count":84,"test_suite_updated_at":null,"rescore_all_solutions":false,"group_id":1,"created_at":"2013-02-21T23:26:14.000Z","updated_at":"2026-05-12T23:00:49.000Z","published_at":"2013-02-21T23:36:53.000Z","restored_at":null,"restored_by":null,"spam":false,"simulink":false,"admin_reviewed":false,"description_opc":"{\"relationships\":[{\"relationshipType\":\"http://schemas.mathworks.com/matlab/code/2013/relationships/document\",\"targetMode\":\"\",\"relationshipId\":\"rId1\",\"target\":\"/matlab/document.xml\"},{\"relationshipType\":\"http://schemas.mathworks.com/matlab/code/2013/relationships/output\",\"targetMode\":\"\",\"relationshipId\":\"rId2\",\"target\":\"/matlab/output.xml\"}],\"parts\":[{\"partUri\":\"/matlab/document.xml\",\"relationship\":[],\"contentType\":\"application/vnd.mathworks.matlab.code.document+xml\",\"content\":\"\u003c?xml version=\\\"1.0\\\" encoding=\\\"UTF-8\\\"?\u003e\\n\u003cw:document xmlns:w=\\\"http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main\\\"\u003e\u003cw:body\u003e\u003cw:p\u003e\u003cw:pPr\u003e\u003cw:pStyle w:val=\\\"text\\\"/\u003e\u003c/w:pPr\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003eThis problem concerns the so-called\u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003e \u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003cw:hyperlink w:docLocation=\\\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_ternary\\\"\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003ebalanced ternary\u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003c/w:hyperlink\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003e system for representing numbers. It is a Base 3 system in which the digits can be 1, 0, or -1.\u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003c/w:p\u003e\u003cw:p\u003e\u003cw:pPr\u003e\u003cw:pStyle w:val=\\\"text\\\"/\u003e\u003c/w:pPr\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003eIn balanced ternary, the number 8 would be represented as 9 (or 3^2) minus 1 (or 3^0). Typographically we will use \\\"|\\\" for one, \\\"o\\\" for zero (that's a lower-case O), and \\\"-\\\" for negative one. So if the decimal input d is the number 8, the balanced ternary output is the string \\\"|o-\\\". Thus\u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003c/w:p\u003e\u003cw:p\u003e\u003cw:pPr\u003e\u003cw:pStyle w:val=\\\"code\\\"/\u003e\u003c/w:pPr\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003e\u003c![CDATA[ dec 8  =\u003e bt \\\"|o-\\\"]]\u003e\u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003c/w:p\u003e\u003cw:p\u003e\u003cw:pPr\u003e\u003cw:pStyle w:val=\\\"text\\\"/\u003e\u003c/w:pPr\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003eHere are some more examples.\u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003c/w:p\u003e\u003cw:p\u003e\u003cw:pPr\u003e\u003cw:pStyle w:val=\\\"code\\\"/\u003e\u003c/w:pPr\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003e\u003c![CDATA[ dec 3  =\u003e bt \\\"|o\\\"\\n dec 15 =\u003e bt \\\"|--o\\\"\\n dec 52 =\u003e bt \\\"|-o-|\\\"]]\u003e\u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003c/w:p\u003e\u003cw:p\u003e\u003cw:pPr\u003e\u003cw:pStyle w:val=\\\"text\\\"/\u003e\u003c/w:pPr\u003e\u003cw:r\u003e\u003cw:t\u003eGiven an integer d, return the string bt. Leading zeros should always be suppressed.\u003c/w:t\u003e\u003c/w:r\u003e\u003c/w:p\u003e\u003c/w:body\u003e\u003c/w:document\u003e\"},{\"partUri\":\"/matlab/output.xml\",\"contentType\":\"text/xml\",\"content\":\"\u003c?xml version=\\\"1.0\\\" encoding=\\\"UTF-8\\\" standalone=\\\"no\\\" ?\u003e\u003cembeddedOutputs\u003e\u003cmetaData\u003e\u003cevaluationState\u003emanual\u003c/evaluationState\u003e\u003clayoutState\u003ecode\u003c/layoutState\u003e\u003coutputStatus\u003eready\u003c/outputStatus\u003e\u003c/metaData\u003e\u003coutputArray type=\\\"array\\\"/\u003e\u003cregionArray type=\\\"array\\\"/\u003e\u003c/embeddedOutputs\u003e\"}]}"}],"errors":[],"facets":[[{"value":"Randomness","count":1,"selected":false}],[{"value":"hard","count":1,"selected":false}]],"term":"tag:\"number system\"","page":1,"per_page":50,"sort":"map(difficulty_value,0,0,999) asc"}}