How Do I Split 100 Into 4 Parts of Increasing Value? - Porcupineblog (2023)

There’s an old saying that goes, “you can’t split a piece of pie three ways and have each person end up with an equal piece.” But what if we’re not talking about pie? What if we’re talking about splitting $100 three ways? Can it be done?

It turns out that you can split $100 three ways and have each person end up with an equal amount of money. All you need is a little bit of math.

Let’s say Person A has $100 and wants to split it evenly with Person B and Person C. Person A can give Person B $50 and Person C $50, and then Person A can keep the remaining $0. Or, Person A could give Person B $33 and Person C $67, and then Person A would keep the $0.

It might not seem like it, but these are both perfectly equal splits.

How is that possible?

It has to do with something called the “remainder.”

The remainder is what’s left over after you divide something into equal parts. So, in our example, if we divide $100 into three equal parts, each person would end up with $33. But $100 divided into three equal parts also has a remainder of $1. That $1 is left over and needs to go somewhere.

That’s where the math comes in. When you’re splitting something three ways, you need to take the remainder into account. If there’s no remainder, then each person gets an equal amount of money. But if there is a remainder, then whoever gets the extra money gets the remainder.

For example, if we divide $100 by three, we get $33 with a remainder of $1. So, Person A could give Person B $33 and Person C $34, and then Person A would keep the $0. Or, Person A could give Person B $32 and Person C $66, and then Person A would keep the $2.

These are both perfectly equal splits, even though they don’t look like it at first glance. So, next time you’re trying to split something three ways, don’t forget to take the remainder into account!

It’s not uncommon to need to divide a number unevenly, for example when splitting a bill between people. The easiest way to do this is to firstly work out what the division would be if the number was split evenly, then add or subtract from this number depending on who should receive the extra amount.

For example, if you need to split a bill of $37 between three people, the split would be $12.33 each. However, if you need to give the third person an extra $1, you would simply add this to their share, giving them a total of $13.33.

To make things a little more complicated, let’s say you need to split a bill of $37 between three people, but two of them need to contribute an extra $2 each. In this case, you would firstly work out the even split, which would be $12.33 each. You would then subtract $2 from the first two people’s shares, giving them $10.33 each, and add $2 to the third person’s share, giving them $14.33.

As you can see, uneven division is relatively easy once you know the basics. Just remember to be fair when working out who should contribute the extra amount (or amounts), and to be careful when adding and subtracting to avoid mistakes.