A prize of $27,000 is to be divided among three people in the ratio 3:5:7. What is the largest share? This is not homework; I was just reviewing some old math flash cards and I came across this one I couldn't solve. I'm not interested in the solution so much as the reasoning.
Thanks

Hint: 3+5+7=15. So separate the money into 15 distinct piles of equal amounts (why can we do that?). Give 3 piles to the first person, 5 piles to the second, and 7 piles to the third. This now amounts to finding how much money was given to the third person. Hope that helps.
