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The Honest Dairyman

Unreviewed import — a classic from the public domain; its solution has not been machine-checked yet.

math
An honest dairyman in preparing his milk for public consumption employed a can marked B, containing milk, and a can marked A, containing water. From can A he poured enough to double the contents of can B. Then he poured from can B into can A enough to double its contents. Then he finally poured from can A into can B until their contents were exactly equal. After these operations he would send the can A to London, and the puzzle is to discover what are the relative proportions of milk and water that he provides for the Londoners' breakfast-tables. Do they get equal proportions of milk and water--or two parts of milk and one of water--or what? It is an interesting question, though, curiously enough, we are not told how much milk or water he puts into the cans at the start of his operations.

Solution

Commit an attempt to unseal the proof. Write your answer — right or wrong, thinking it through is the point.

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