Three cooks have each paid one third to purchase a bag of herbs. In the past, two of the cooks have divided their purchases in the following manner: First one cook would divide the herb, by eye, into two piles she considered to be equal. The second cook would then choose the pile she thought was bigger.

By what process may the three cooks divide their herbs in such a way that each was content that she had recieved at least one third of the total? (No scales or other devices are available to assist the division)

(In reply to One Possible Answer (Spoiler) by Vernon Lewis)

Good idea, but it wouldn't work. Suppose A has extremely bad judgement, and divides the herbs so that one pile is tiny and the two others are huge, one slightly larger than the other. B and C both select the larger of the big piles, and so A gets the other large pile.  B and C are left with the huge pile and the tiny pile, which is slightly more than half the herbs, not two thirds. Therefore, B and C might be dissatisfied.

Posted by thegnome54 on 2006-01-28 23:54:02