Guest Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 A farmer had 3 sons and 17 horses suddenly dies. The farmer's will states: The first son gets 1/2 of the horsesThe second son gets 1/3 of the horsesThe third son gets 1/9 of the horses A lawyer rides to the farm to help the sons. How many horses does each son get and why? No fractions, all horses must live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 (edited) not used to posting on math puzzles, so... First son gets nine, second gets six, third gets two? Edited April 20, 2010 by LJayden Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 The Lawyer will add 1 horse to the total horses of farmer to make them 18. Now, the division amongs the members will be like First Son (1/2 Share) : 18/2 = 9Second Son (1/3 Share) : 18/3 = 6Second Son (1/9 Share) :18/9 = 2 Now, the total horse given to the farmers children will be 9+6+2=17. So, the lawyer will take back his horse which was added by him initially Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 Sumit Modi got it exactly right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 quote name='ubuntucuber' date='20 April 2010 - 04:46 AM' timestamp='1271735174' post='224468'] A farmer had 3 sons and 17 horses suddenly dies. The farmer's will states: The first son gets 1/2 of the horses9[The second son gets 1/3 of the horses6[The third son gets 1/9 of the horses2[ A lawyer rides to the farm to help the sons. How many horses does each son get and why? No fractions, all horses must live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 9+6+2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 Shouldn't we wait for the farmer to die first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 scratch my last post A farmer had 3 sons and 17 horses suddenly dies. Doesn't it read like the horses and the sons are dead, and not the farmer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 This is another 'old chestnut' I've known this problem for many years. The answer isn't actually a true solution of the original problem. One gets more than his share and the other two get less. He should compensate the others! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 Sumit Modi got it exactly right I have always hated this solution because It does not fulfill the dads will. the fist son does not get half of the horses, he gets 9/17ths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Guest Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 Well since all the horses are dead... NONE!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 random7 Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 This is another 'old chestnut' I've known this problem for many years. The answer isn't actually a true solution of the original problem. One gets more than his share and the other two get less. He should compensate the others! The lawyer looses out on "part" of a horse. Since (1/2+1/3+1/9=17/18) < 1 whole, the father's Will didn't account for 1/18th of the total horses, which would technically go to the lawyer (ie. the state/government). To help with easing the situation of "partial horses", the lawyer uses a trick of logic to distribute that 1/18th back to the sons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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A farmer had 3 sons and 17 horses suddenly dies.
The farmer's will states:
A lawyer rides to the farm to help the sons.
How many horses does each son get and why?
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