DAY 16

Two travelers stopped to eat. One had 5 loaves of bread and the other had 3. A third traveler arrived and asked to share their bread. They agreed and shared the bread equally among the three of them. The third traveler left $8 as payment. The traveler with 5 loaves felt he should get $5 and his friend $3---the same as their quantities of bread. The traveler with 3 loaves felt the $8 should be split $4 and $4, since the bread was shared equally. Unable to agree, they went to a judge, who correctly determined the fair distribution of the $8. What was the judge's decision?

$5-----$3
$4-----$4
$7-----$1

Answer:

$7-----$1..........Each man should be paid according to the amount over and above his own portion of the meal that he let the third traveler eat. Since the three men had shared the 8 loaves equally, each had eaten 8/3 loaves. Traveler one had 15/3 loaves, and traveler 2 had 9/3 loaves. Traveler 1 therefore gave away 7/3 loaves, while traveler 2 gave away 1/3 loaf. The ratio being 7:1.

Another way to solve: Since the third traveler paid $8, and the bread was shared equally, the value of the three loaves would be $24, or $3 per loaf. The first traveler contributed $15 and the second $9. Since each traveler ate $8 worth of bread (1/3 of $24), the first traveler should get $15 - 8 = $7 and the second traveler $9 - 8 = $1.