The Golden Problem
There were two friends- Ram and Shyam who brought paranthas at lunch everyday , usually an unequal amount, but divided the pile equally.
On a day like this, Shyam brought 5 while Ram brought only 3 paranthas and had just sat down to eat, when a traveler came across who claimed he was hungry, and pleaded them to share their food with him. The friends agreed willingly, arranged their paranthas into a stack, and cut it into 3 equal parts, each of which was feasted upon by the 3, now. The traveler on his way back, gave them 8 gold coins for their generosity. The 2 friends were at a loss as to how to divide the coins.
How many coins must Shyam get, so that the division is a fair and justified one?
The answer is 7.
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1 solution
Each person got 8/3 paranthas. Shyam paid for 5 paranthas but ate only 8/3. So he paid for (5-(8/3)) i.e. 7/3 part of travellers 8/3. The remaining amount for 1/3 was paid by Ram. Thus Shyam should get 7 and Ram should get 1 gold coin.