The story of 17 Camels and 3 Sons
Once upon a time, there was a merchant Arab has three sons. Suddenly, one day an old man died. He had left a letter, leaving all the properties included 17 camels for his three sons. After the funeral work has been done perfectly, the sons read the will. In the letter, an old man gave all his properties to his 3 sons equally, excepted the camels, he distributed them in very Strange ways that the elder one will get half of the camels, the middle one will get 1 third of the camels and the youngest one will get 1 ninth of the camels.
As the 17 is an odd number and a prime number which could not be divided with three. How could they divide these 17 camels and give the eldest, middle and youngest sons?
The sons are thinking for some days trying to figure out how this can possibly be done, when a very old wise man goes riding by on his camel. They stopped him and asked him to help them solve their problem. Without hesitation he divides the camels properly and continues riding on his way. How did he do it?
The wise man listened to the problem with full concern and instantly found a solution. He told them to fetch all the camels for him. When the Sons brought all the camels to the wise man’s place, he added a camel owned by him with those 17 camels. Now the total number of camels is 18.
Now, The wise said to the eldest son to read the letter as it says, The eldest one will get half of the camels which means 18/2 = 9 camels. So, 9 camels went to the eldest son.
Then, the wise man told the middle son to read the letter as it says, the middle one will get 1 third of the camels which means 18/3 = 6. So, 6 camels went to the second son.
At least the Third son read out the letter as it says, The third one will get 1 ninth of the camels which means 18/ 9 = 2 camels. So, 2 camels went to the third son.
Totally, the three sons are 9 + 6 + 2 = 17 camels as per the letter says.
After that, The wise man takes his one camel back from the Total of 18 camels.
There is the other similar but totally difference case. Letter of father mentioned that the elder one will get half of the 17 camels, the middle one will get 1 third of the 17 camels and the youngest one will get 1 sixth of the 17 camels.
The show-off crazy man did the same thing with the famous wise man. He told them to fetch all the camels for him. When the Sons brought all the camels to the man’s place, he added a camel owned by him with those 17 camels. Now the total number of camels is 18.
Now, The man said to the eldest son to read the letter as it says, The eldest one will get half of the camels which means 18/2 = 9 camels. So, 9 camels went to the eldest son.
Then, the man told the middle son to read the letter as it says, the middle one will get 1 third of the camels which means 18/3 = 6. So, 6 camels went to the second son.
At least the Third son read out the letter as it says, The third one will get 1 sixth of the camels which means 18/ 6 = 3 camels. So, 3 camels went to the third son.
Totally, the three sons are 9 + 6 + 3 = 18 camels as per the letter says.
In this case, The crazy man lost his one camel to the three sons. What is the difference?
The difference of two case is the total of three parts.
- The letter originally mentioned 1/2, 1/3 and 1/9. The total is ( 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/9 ) = ( 9/18 + 6/18 + 2/18 ) = 17/18. It is not a full 100%. When applies to the 17 camels, 17 camels * 17/18 = 16.05 camels.
- The wise man solved idea applies the fraction of 17/18 to the 18 camels, 18 camels * 17/18 = 17 camels. It is difference from the original will of the father, but he can divide 17 camels without remainder.
- The second case solved by the crazy man mentioned 1/2, 1/3 and 1/6. The total is ( 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/6 ) = ( 9/18 + 6/18 + 3/18 ) = 18/18. It is a full 100%. When applies to the 17 camels, 17 camels * 18/18 = 17 camels, or even to the 18 camels, 18 camels * 18/18 = 18 camels.
Tag:17 Camels, Funny Maths
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