10 Python Problems for Beginners

• I’m still working on this post.
• Problem 1 - Find the Largest of Two Numbers
• Problem 2 - Print Numbers from 1 to N
• Problem 3 - Check if a Number is Positive or Negative
• Problem 4 - Calculate the Sum of Digits
• Problem 5 - Find Factorial of a Number
• Problem 6 - Count Occurrences of a Digit
• Problem 7 - Find the GCD of Two Numbers
• Problem 8 - Reverse a String
• Problem 9 - Check Armstrong Number
• Problem 10 - Generate a Pattern

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Code examples and explanations will be added soon.
Check back later for the full version!

Problem 1 - Find the Largest of Two Numbers

Task: Given two numbers, find the larger one.
Demo Input: 5 and 6
Output: 6

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num_1 = 5  # 1st input
num_2 = 6  # 2nd input

if num_1 > num_2:
    print(f"The largest number is {num_1}")
else:
    print(f"The largest number is {num_2}")
 

Output: 6

Explanation: The program compares two numbers using the > (greater than) operator.

• If num_1 is greater, it prints num_1.
• Otherwise, it prints num_2. This simple comparison helps identify the larger of the two inputs.

Problem 2 - Print Numbers from 1 to N

Task: Given a number n, print all numbers from 1 to n.
Demo Input: 5
Demo Output: 1 2 3 4 5

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n = 5  # input
for i in range(1, n + 1):
    print(i)
 

Explanation: The range() function generates numbers from 1 to n. The for loop iterates through each number and prints it sequentially. If n is 5, the output becomes 1 2 3 4 5.

Problem 3 - Check if a Number is Positive or Negative

Task: Determine if the input number is positive, negative, or zero.
Demo Input: -3
Demo Output: The number is Negative

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number = -3
# number = int(input("Enter a number: "))

if number > 0:
    print(f"The number: {number}, is positive (+ve)")
elif number < 0:
    print(f"The number: {number}, is negative (-ve)")
else:
    print("The number is zero")
 

Explanation: This uses simple conditional checks:

• If the number is greater than 0, it’s positive.
• If less than 0, it’s negative.
• If neither, it’s zero. The elif statement ensures all three cases are covered clearly.

Problem 4 - Calculate the Sum of Digits

Task: Given a number, find the sum of its digits.
Demo Input: 123
Demo Output: 6
(Explanation: 1 + 2 + 3 = 6)

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number = 123
# number = int(input("Enter a number: "))
digit_sum = sum([int(a) for a in str(number)])
print(f"Sum of {number} =", digit_sum)
 

Explanation: The number is first converted to a string so each digit can be looped through. Each character is then turned back into an integer and summed using the sum() function. For 123, this becomes 1 + 2 + 3 = 6.

Problem 5 - Find Factorial of a Number

Task: Calculate the factorial of a given number.
Demo Input: 4
Demo Output: 24
(Explanation: 4! = 4 × 3 × 2 × 1 = 24)

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input_num = 4
fact = 1

for digit in range(input_num, 0, -1):
    fact *= digit

print(f"{input_num}! =", fact)
 

Explanation: The loop multiplies the number by all integers below it down to 1. The variable fact keeps updating as the product grows. This is the manual way to calculate factorials without using math.factorial().

Problem 6 - Count Occurrences of a Digit

Task: Count how many times a specific digit appears in a number.
Demo Input: 1233321
Demo Output: 3
(Explanation: The digit 3 appears 3 times in 1233321.)

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input_num = str(1233321)
result = input_num.count('3')
print(result)
 

Alternative with user input:

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input_num = input("Enter a number: ")
input_dig = input("Enter the digit: ")

result = input_num.count(input_dig)
print(f"{input_dig} appears {result} times in {input_num}.")
 

Explanation: The count() method checks how many times a substring (digit) occurs within a string. Converting the number to a string makes it easy to use this built-in function.

Problem 7 - Find the GCD of Two Numbers

Task: Find the greatest common divisor (GCD) of two numbers.
Demo Input: 8 and 12
Demo Output: 4

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a = int(input("1st number: "))
b = int(input("2nd number: "))

while b != 0:
    rem = a % b
    a = b
    b = rem

print("GCD is:", a)
 

Explanation: This uses the Euclidean Algorithm:

• Divide a by b and take the remainder.
• Replace a with b, and b with the remainder.
• Repeat until the remainder becomes 0. The last non-zero a is the GCD.

Problem 8 - Reverse a String

Task: Reverse the given string.
Demo Input: "aiquest"
Demo Output: "tseuqia"

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word = input("Enter anything: ")
reverse = ''

for char in word:
    reverse = char + reverse

print(f'''Reverse of "{word}" is: "{reverse}"''')
 

Explanation: Each character is added in front of the existing string, building the reversed version step by step. This approach avoids using slicing or built-in reverse functions, helping you understand string manipulation.

Problem 9 - Check Armstrong Number

Task: Check if a number is an Armstrong number.
Demo Input: 153
Demo Output: 153 is an Armstrong Number
(Explanation: (1^3 + 5^3 + 3^3 = 153))

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num = input("Enter a number: ")
len_num = len(num)
result = 0

for digit in num:
    result += int(digit) ** len_num

if result == int(num):
    print(f"{num} is an Armstrong number")
else:
    print(f"{num} is Not Armstrong")
 

Explanation: Each digit is raised to the power of the total number of digits, and their sum is compared with the original number. If both match, it’s an Armstrong number. For example, 153 = 1³ + 5³ + 3³.

Problem 10 - Generate a Pattern

Task: Print a pyramid pattern with n rows.
Demo Input: 4
Output: Pyramid pattern with 4 rows.

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rows = int(input("Enter the number of rows: "))
# char = input("Enter any character: ")
char = "▲"

for i in range(1, rows + 1):
    print(" " * (rows - i), end="")
    print(f"{char}" * (2 * i - 1))
 

Explanation: The loop prints spaces and symbols in a specific order:

• " " * (rows - i) creates leading spaces to center the pattern.
• char * (2 * i - 1) prints an increasing number of symbols in each row. Together, they form a symmetrical pyramid.