Fair Shares

[steveh]

Two men were having a meal. The first man brought 5 loaves of bread, and the second brought 3. A third man, Bob, came in and joined them. They shared the 8 loaves. As he left Bob gave the men 8 coins as a thank you. The first man said that he would take 5 of the coins and give his partner 3 because of the amount of loaves each had supplied, but the second man refused and asked for half of the sum (i.e. 4 coins) as an equal division. The first one refused.

They went to Bob and asked for the fair solution. Bob told the second man, "I think it is better for you to accept your mates offer." But the man refused and asked for justice. So Bob said, "Then I say the one that provided the 5 loaves takes 7 coins, and the one who provided 3 loaves takes 1 coin."

Can you explain why this was fair?

Editted to correct typo

[TonyE]

Spoiler

If they shared the loaves equally, they each would have eaten 8 * 1/3 loaves = 2 2/3 loaves each. That means the man with 3 loaves would have eaten 2 2/3 of his own loaves, so only gave away 1/3 of a loaf. The first man would have given away 5 - 2 2/3 = 2 1/3 loaves. So the proportion given away is 1/3 compared to 2 1/3, the ratios given away is 1 to 7

[steveh]

My puzzles are not up to scratch for you riddlers, I will have to go into a huddle with myself and find something better

[HansV]

This was a nice puzzle, Steve!

[TonyE]

I usually find maths puzzles easier than other types of puzzles. I have a degree in maths so can add up without using a calculator
Your card counting puzzle got me thinking for quite a while, I was thankful when Jezza solved it.