There is one interesting/well-known 'puzzle' I happened to think about again
Simple math leads to fractions (impractical in case of horses) .. The 'solution' is interesting as well (creative or 'out-of-the-box') - a wise passerby 'offers' one of his own horses - and then when division/distribution is down from (now) 18 horses - not only they all get 'more' that they originally would have expected but also the passerby takes out his 'loaned' horse without any issue :-)
I was just pondering up on the role of passerby .. is it result of 'creativity' or should we consider 'divine intervention' helping us in such a way at times ... ?
'catalyst' is defined as "a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change."
[PS: It has been even pointed out - by few - that the fractions do not add up to whole unit 1 - and hence it is 'mathematically' flawed to begin with?]
A farmer wants to divide his 17 horses among his three sons. According to farmer the oldest son should get half of the horses, the middle son should get one third of the horses and the youngest son should get one ninth of the horses. When their father died they were not able to divide the horses as the result was coming in fractions. As the sons were fighting on how to divide the horses a traveling mathematician came and heard their problem. He proposed a solution with which all the sons got their share in the property without harming any animal. What was the advice given and how the group of horses were divided?[Above referred from http://www.crazyforcode.com/17-horses-puzzle/]
Simple math leads to fractions (impractical in case of horses) .. The 'solution' is interesting as well (creative or 'out-of-the-box') - a wise passerby 'offers' one of his own horses - and then when division/distribution is down from (now) 18 horses - not only they all get 'more' that they originally would have expected but also the passerby takes out his 'loaned' horse without any issue :-)
I was just pondering up on the role of passerby .. is it result of 'creativity' or should we consider 'divine intervention' helping us in such a way at times ... ?
'catalyst' is defined as "a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change."
[PS: It has been even pointed out - by few - that the fractions do not add up to whole unit 1 - and hence it is 'mathematically' flawed to begin with?]
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