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 Divide and Spread by brianjn)

Sorry, but imagine that A has horrible measuring abilities and gives B and C piles with only three herbs each (problems are usually discovered at the extremes of theories, so bear with me).  A then proceeds to divide her humongous pile into three more uneven piles.  B and C can only add one herb to each pile, and so are helpless. A then makes off with the largest of the piles, leaving B and C with rip offs.

Posted by thegnome54 on 2006-01-28 23:57:12