Consider these two questions.
1. There are 3 men who go to a hotel and ask for a room. The desk-man tells them it will be $30 and they split the money three-ways, paying $10 each. When the see the room, its very grimy and compact. They get back down and shout at the desk-man, who says his sorries and agrees to repay $5. The three-men head back up, while the desk-man gives the bellboy $5 to give to them. On his way up, the bellboy decides he can’t split $5 among three, so he pockets $2 and gives them back $1 each. This leaves them with an effective pay of $9 each.
9 x 3 = 27, and the bellboy has $2, which gives us a total of $29. Where is the remaining dollar?
2. There’s a man on his deathbed who has 3 sons, amongst whom he wants to split his 17 donkeys. He decides to give the eldest 1/2, the second son 1/3rd, and the third 1/9th, of the total share. How do the sons work this out?
Clathration Therapy 