He tells them he wishes the 17 horses he owns to be distibuted in the following manner:-
The oldest son will receive Half the stock
Middle son will receive One sixth of the stock
Youngest son will receive One Ninth of the stock.
How many horses will each son receive?
P.S. - Their is to be no butchering or killing!!
2007-02-23 05:43:43 · 16 answers · asked by Rod Mac 5 in Education & Reference ➔ Homework Help
So, the three sons were completely perplexed with how to solve this problem until the neighbor rode by on his horse and listened to their problem.
He said, for a small fee he would solve their problem.
They agreed and he proposed the following:
I will give you my horse and then we will divvy up the herd of 18 horses as follows:
Oldest son receives 1/2 = 9 horses
Middle son receives 1/6 = 3 horses
Youngest son receives 1/9 = 2 horses
For my trouble, I will take my horse back plus the three remaining from the fathers original herd.
And there was much rejoicing.
2007-02-23 05:53:13 · answer #1 · answered by Will 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
As 1/2+1/6+1/9 is not equal to 1,so 17 horses cannot be divided in the manner in the three brothers without keeping any horse in their father's stable . If they want to divide the horses the manner their father told them without cutting or butchering the eldest will get 9 middle one will get 3 and the youngest will get 2 horses.
And the rest 3 horses will remain their father's stable.
Another thing they can do that is their father didn't tell them what to do with the rest of the horses .As a result each of them can take one horse from the last three horses mutually .
2007-02-23 14:17:52 · answer #2 · answered by iftekhar 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's quite easy if you "temporarily borrow" a horse to make the total 18.
With 18 horses, the oldest gets 9, the middle gets 3, and the youngest gets 2, and you can return the "borrowed" horse, if you even borrowed one in the first place.
It helps to realize that 1/2 + 1/6 + 1/9 = 14/18 to lead you to the right answer to this riddle.
2007-02-23 13:51:39 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Notice that 1/2 + 1/6 + 1/9 does not equal the whole. IN fact its not even close. So round up to avoid slaughtering animals.
Oldest gets 9
Middle gets 3
Youngest gets 2
And the wife gets the remaining five?
2007-02-23 13:50:31 · answer #4 · answered by Wind Chime 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Can't be done unless horses are left over as that only adds up to 7/9 of the stock
2007-02-23 13:48:35 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
i can't work it out, becuase if one of the sons was to be given half of the horses that means he would be given 8 and a half horses, unless because that is half of 17, unless 'stock' is some sort of measurement.
2007-02-23 13:51:42 · answer #6 · answered by climba32 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Teachers say that word problems are examples of how we might use math in real life, but most the time they're problems that would NEVER be asked! A lotta times they ask the question kinda backwards...
UGH.
It's pointless.
And if there's no butchering it can't actually be done. You can't have half of 17 without chopping something in half.
2007-02-23 13:55:38 · answer #7 · answered by jamie68117 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
I like chilly willy's answer the best. However, how about this: Notice the word 'stock'. A rich man probably had stock, as in stock market shares, of his thoroughbred racing teams. Divvy up the 'stock', as in pieces of paper, not horses!
Then you just find the common denominator.
2007-02-23 13:57:58 · answer #8 · answered by gpaltrow2001 2 · 1⤊ 3⤋
The word "stock" must be a clue.
Can you sell the horses and divide the money?
2007-02-23 15:53:15 · answer #9 · answered by Girugamesh 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
None because he is dividing his stock, not horses. You cannot divide equally an odd number.
2007-02-23 13:57:34 · answer #10 · answered by pampurredpuss 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋