The Collatz conjecture offers a seemingly arbitrary piecewise sequencing of two separate functions (divide by two, multiply by three and add one). Attempts have been made to partially simplify the problem by combining exactly one instance of the multiplication with one instance of the division but have not previously been able to completely separate the two alternatives. To create this separation, I define a positive integer’s Least Significant Bit as the smallest power of two that is added together to create its binary representation. I then define a replacement function as three times n plus the Least Significant Bit of n. I then show that an application of the replacement function followed by division by two has an identical result to division by two followed by the original Collatz multiplication. By using the replacement function, all division can be delayed until the result is a perfect power of two. This change removes the piecewise aspect of the Collatz conjecture that has stymied a proof. In addition, the resulting graph of transformations displays a many-to-one relationship that has previously been hidden. The replacement formula’s non-piecewise and many-to-one features offer new avenues to prove the conjecture. If one can prove that the replacement function reaches a perfect power of two, one will have proved the Collatz.