Jan 20, 2024
Time again for puzzlers!
This is the new puzzler, from a long time ago... Here we go.
Many years ago, we had an uncle named Enzo. We only vaguely remember him. We were very young. Anyway, he went back to Italy. But before he went, he had 11 antique cars here. Each of them had a value of about 500 bucks. This was a while ago.
So, when our Uncle Enzo died, he left a very interesting will. His will said that his 11 cars be divided among his three sons. But he wanted the oldest son to get more of his estate, due to his age.
Half of the cars would go to the eldest son. One fourth of the cars to the middle son. And one sixth of the cars for the youngest son.
So after the reading of the will, everyone was puzzled. Because there are 11 cars, and 11 is a prime number. It cannot be divided in a half, or a fourth or a sixth.
So just as everyone is scratching their heads, not knowing what to do, our Uncle Vinny shows up in his 1962 Chevy BelAir. And he says, "Don't worry. I know what to do. I can help with my car."
And the puzzler is, how do they do it?
Good luck.
So how did he do it?
How did he help split up the 11 antique cars, when 11 is a prime number? How did he help with his car?
And here it is.
You'll notice that if you add up these fractions, you get 11/12ths. And we know that he had 11 cars.
Then Uncle Vinny shows up with his car and he says, "Look, I will lend you my car."
So, once he lends them his car, they have 12 cars. 12/12.
So, now with 12 cars, 6 of them go to the oldest son. That would be half. A fourth of the cars, or 3 cars, go to the middle son, and a sixth of the cars, or 2 cars, go to the youngest son.
Then, Vinny takes his car back, once the split has happened the way Uncle Enzo wanted it to, because 6, 3 and 2 make 11.
Fractions are fun, right?
Good one.
