How many cats are between 3 sisters?

[Kaycee]

A woman's will decreed that her cats be shared among her three daughters as follows: 1/2 of the cats to the eldest daughter, 1/3 of the cats to the middle duaghter, and 1/9 of the cats to the youngest daughter. Since the woman had 17 cats, the daughters decided that they could not carry out their mother's wishes. The judge who held the will agreed to lend the daughters a cat so that they could share the cats as their mother wished. Now, 1/2 of 18 is 9, 1/3 of 18 is 6; and 1/9 of 18 is 2. Since 9 + 6+ 2=17, the dauthers were able to divide the 17 cats and return the borrowed cat. They obviously did not need the extra cat to carry out their mothers bequest, but they could not divide 17 into halves, thirds and ninths. Has the womans will really been followed?

Please help
I know that 1/2 +1/3+1/9 does not equal a whole. Also when you add these fractions together you get 17/18.
I also know 1/2=0.5, 1/3=0.33333333 ,1/9= 0.1111111

 

[stapel]

Has the womans will really been followed?

Depends on how we define her terms. Strictly speaking, nobody got exactly one-half of the total number of the woman's cats. But I don't know how estate law works in such cases. On the other hand, since the woman's fractions do not add up to 100% of her cats, one might judge that the division was meant to be proportional, 9:6:2, rather than exactly as stated.

Your question may not be answerable, mathematically, and possibly the answer cannot be determined without the advice of an estate lawyer, or else a Talmudic scholar. The specific jurisdiction might make a difference, too.

But I rather doubt that the woman would have intended that her eldest get, say, nine cats, plus the head of a seventh cat. A "fudge" that allowed the cats to live would probably have been preferable to (that is, closer to her "wishes" than) strictly following the mathematical dictates of her will and thus having to cut one or two cats to bits.

Eliz.

 

[TchrWill]

A woman's will decreed that her cats be shared among her three daughters as follows: 1/2 of the cats to the eldest daughter, 1/3 of the cats to the middle duaghter, and 1/9 of the cats to the youngest daughter. Since the woman had 17 cats, the daughters decided that they could not carry out their mother's wishes. The judge who held the will agreed to lend the daughters a cat so that they could share the cats as their mother wished. Now, 1/2 of 18 is 9, 1/3 of 18 is 6; and 1/9 of 18 is 2. Since 9 + 6+ 2=17, the dauthers were able to divide the 17 cats and return the borrowed cat. They obviously did not need the extra cat to carry out their mothers bequest, but they could not divide 17 into halves, thirds and ninths. Has the womans will really been followed?

Please help
I know that 1/2 +1/3+1/9 does not equal a whole. Also when you add these fractions together you get 17/18.
I also know 1/2=0.5, 1/3=0.33333333 ,1/9= 0.1111111[/quote]

The woman had 18 cats to start with, only 17 of which were to be distributed, the 18th being given the right to live in, and be cared for, in the woman's house for the rest of her life.

Could be!