Two cowboys live next door to each other and both have a corral for their cows in the back. One day they meet at the back of their homes, standing next to a wall dividing their corrals. The first cowboy gets to thinking and asks his neighbor for a cow so he can double his herd. The other cowboys replies, “That’s fine by me partner, cuz then we’ll have the same number of cows?” How many cows does each cowboy own?
We’ll use A to represent the first cowboy and B for the second cowboy.
Starting out.. the cowboy A has 1 cow and cowboy B has 3 cows.
A + 1 = 2A, so A = 1.
A + 1 = B – 1, so B = 3.
When cowboy B says “that’s fine by me”, ownership of one of cowboy B’s cows is transferred to cowboy A. The important words here are “double HIS herd”. If ownership of one cow didn’t transfer from cowboy B to cowboy A, cowboy A’s herd (HIS herd) would not be doubled.
Therefore… when the question is asked “How many cows does each cowboy own?”, cowboy A and cowboy B both own 2 cows. Note: Until the gifted cow is physically transferred from cowboy B’s corral to cowboy A’s corral, cowboy A’s corral will have one cow in it (owned by cowboy A) and cowboy B’s corral will have three cows in it (two owned by cowboy B and one owned by cowboy A).
1 Comment on "Cowboy Corral"
Paul says
December 7, 2015 @ 07:19
Both cowboys have 2 cows.
We’ll use A to represent the first cowboy and B for the second cowboy.
Starting out.. the cowboy A has 1 cow and cowboy B has 3 cows.
A + 1 = 2A, so A = 1.
A + 1 = B – 1, so B = 3.
When cowboy B says “that’s fine by me”, ownership of one of cowboy B’s cows is transferred to cowboy A. The important words here are “double HIS herd”. If ownership of one cow didn’t transfer from cowboy B to cowboy A, cowboy A’s herd (HIS herd) would not be doubled.
Therefore… when the question is asked “How many cows does each cowboy own?”, cowboy A and cowboy B both own 2 cows. Note: Until the gifted cow is physically transferred from cowboy B’s corral to cowboy A’s corral, cowboy A’s corral will have one cow in it (owned by cowboy A) and cowboy B’s corral will have three cows in it (two owned by cowboy B and one owned by cowboy A).
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