17 cows problem

Quote: Ayecarumba

Since the will doesn't provide instructions for the leftover 0.0556 cow, the entire herd should be sold, the proceeds distributed, and the leftover portion added back to the estate.

You know a slaughtered cow is worth more than a live one? Unless it's a milking cow, naturally.

Let's leave it there before things get too graphic.

Quote: Fleastiff

Note Cows do not sleep standing up; cow tipping is for City Boys being initiated into a fraternity.

Yeah, in college we were at a kegger with a few cows sleeping in the field. Someone mentioned cow tipping to one farm-boy roommate. He got agitated. "A 200lb guy is not going to tip over a 1,000 pound plus cow that does not want to be tipped over!"

Of course he was so agitated I had to jump in:

"Sleeping in the pasture and not the barn?"
"In nice weather all the time, why?"
"Won't they get pasteurized?"

Oh, the language he used!

Quote: Wizard

A farmer has 17 cows. He dies, leaving a will that states that the cows will be divided among his three sons according to the following proportions:

Adam: 1/2
Bill: 1/3
Charlie: 1/9

Obviously, there is 1/18 not accounted for.

Inheritance or other taxes

Quote:

How should the 17 cows be divided?

Hamburger!

Not knowing what to do, the three boys ask the Rabbi for counsel.
The wise Rabbi says: "I will lend you one of my own cows to add to the herd. Now go ahead and distribute according to the will."
So Adam gets 9 cows, Bill gets 6 cows and Charlie gets 2 cows. "But Rabbi, now there is one cow left over," says Adam.
"So I shall take back the cow now, that I gave unto you," replies the Rabbi with a smile.


This is actually a popular math problem from 5th grade textbooks in Germany. The student's task is to explain the math behind the story. (I took some liberty with the translation from memory.)

Quote: Wizard

A farmer has 17 cows. He dies, leaving a will that states that the cows will be divided among his three sons according to the following proportions:

Adam: 1/2
Bill: 1/3
Charlie: 1/9

Obviously, there is 1/18 not accounted for.

How should the 17 cows be divided?

The question for the poll is how many cows should Charlie get?

There is no obvious time limit to split them up.

Cows are females.

It doesn't state if the cows are fertile or not.

They'd be hamburger if not fertile because they cost so much to feed.

And the meat could be divided into appropriate weight portions.

If they were fertile, I could breed them with a bull and keep doing it until the math worked out.

However, I'd personally want the best cow.

And someone else might take two of the worst cows.

So an immediate deal could be based upon quality and/or quantity.

So 1/9 might imply quality and not quantity.

One way would be to devise a number based upon quality so the math works.

For example there were 54 quality magnitudes (denominator multiplication).

And 1/9 * 54 = 6, so that person could select 6 quality magnitudes.

If there were bickering over the same quality magnitudes, the largest portion to the smallest portion could have priority in an successive selecting rounds,

OR

it would be possible for two or three owners a share in the same quality portion.


Therefore, using a quality method the quantifiable answer is undefined.

That would be better than weighing them on a scale and taking rations.

Quote: Wizard

A farmer has 17 cows. He dies, leaving a will that states that the cows will be divided among his three sons according to the following proportions:

Adam: 1/2
Bill: 1/3
Charlie: 1/9

Obviously, there is 1/18 not accounted for.

How should the 17 cows be divided?

The question for the poll is how many cows should Charlie get?

Adam: 1/2---> 8.5--->9

Bill: 1/3--->5.67--->6

Charlie: 1/9--->1.88--->2

And done.

I forgot about this one.

I agree with the 9-6-2 distribution. Here is how I would argue the logic of it.

If we add the shares, we get 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/9 = 17/18.

Here is what ratio of 17/18 each person gets:

Adam: 9/17
Bill: 6/17
Charlies: 2/17

Fortunately, there are 17 cows, so it works out.