He said to his sons, "I have prepared seventeen horses for you, and I will give them to three people." When the horse was divided, the boss contributed the most, with half of it; The second child, one third; The third is the youngest, so you can take one ninth of the total. "
After barely saying these words, the old man died. When the three brothers executed their wills, they agreed that these horses were their father's favorite things before his death, and they must never divide any of them into several pieces. But the will must be completely obeyed. What should we do?
As it happens, their old uncle came on horseback. After listening to the story, he raised his eyebrows and said, "I'll share it."
Guess, how did the old uncle divide the horse?
Because everyone wants an integer horse, according to the will, when dividing horses, the number of horses should be the common multiple of three denominators. The least common multiple of denominators 2, 3 and 9 is 18, so the total number of horses separated by horses should be a multiple of 18. The old man left his sons 17 horses, and the old uncle temporarily borrowed a horse he brought to make up the number. * * * There are 18 horses participating in the distribution.
Ready, the old uncle began to read and execute the will:
"... when dividing horses, the boss contributed the most, accounting for half ..." After reading this, the old uncle counted nine horses and asked the boss to take them:
Second, one-third of the total ... "After reading this, the old uncle counted six horses and let the second one lead him:
"The third is the smallest. You, take one-ninth of the total. " After reading the last sentence, the old man counted two horses and let the third horse lead him:
The sum of the horses divided by the three younger generations happened to be left by the father 17 horses;
9+6+2= 17。
There are 18 horses in the racecourse, and now there is only one left. Of course, my uncle borrowed it temporarily, and now it is still returned to its owner.