166. Three Brothers. The military authorities had to decide which of the three sons of a certain merchant should be exempted from military service.

- I will tell you what they are capable of,-the father said.-Arthur and Benjamin can do the same work in 8 days that Arthur and Charles will take 9 days, and Benjamin and Charles - 10.

Since it is clear that Charles only slows down the work (whichever brother he works with, it takes longer than without him), he is the weakest worker. This is all the authorities needed to know.

We, however, are curious to know something else: how many days will each of the brothers take individually to complete the same work?
166. Arthur can complete the entire work in \(14 \frac{34}{49}\), Benjamin in \(17 \frac{23}{41}\), and Charles in \(23 \frac{7}{31}\) days.