Sam the barbarian had 11 axes. He wanted to share his axes with his 3 sons. The eldest son, Ron, can take half of the axes, while his younger son, John, can take one third of the axes. His youngest son, however, is only entitled to 1/12 of all the axes. How many axes will each of them receive? (No fractions)
Sam wasn't very good at maths, 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/12 is only 11/12, not 1.
However, add a dummy ax, so there are 12 axes and apply Sam's fractions to them. Ron gets 12/2 = 6 axes; John gets 12/3 = 4 axes; the youngest gets 12/12 = 1 axe.
6 + 4 + 1 = 11, so this uses all Sam's axes and you can keep your own dummy axe!
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Sam wasn't very good at maths, 1/2 + 1/3 + 1/12 is only 11/12, not 1.
However, add a dummy ax, so there are 12 axes and apply Sam's fractions to them. Ron gets 12/2 = 6 axes; John gets 12/3 = 4 axes; the youngest gets 12/12 = 1 axe.
6 + 4 + 1 = 11, so this uses all Sam's axes and you can keep your own dummy axe!
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