a lot of you have seen this probably but i wonder if there is an answer out there?

Question

this will mess with your head!

3 men go into a motel. the man behind the desk said the room is $30 so each man paid $10 and went to the room

a while later the man behind the desk realized the room was only $25 so he sent the bellboy to the room with $5

on the way the bellboy couldnt figure out how to split the $5 evenly between the 3 men so he gave each man a $1 bill and kept the other $2 for himself

this means that the 3 mean each paid $9 for the room which is a total of $27

add the $2 that the bellboy kept and you have $29

where is the other dollar?

i think inevitable 2277 you are probably right but what youre not looking at is the way the math is done...3(men) times 9(dollars) = $27...this is where i get $27...thus far yours is the easiest to follow

Answer 1

Cept if they paid $30 originally and the motel guy figured it was only $25...($30 - 5 = 25). he gave the bellboy $5 to give back to the men...So he gave each of the 3 men $1. $25 + 3 = 28...and the bellboy kept 2. So I dont get where u get the $29 from...all the $$ is there.

Answer 2

Look at this as if the 3 were charged correctly. The room costs $25 or $8.33 per person. They paid $30 or $10 each and then got $1 dollar back (for a net of $9 each). The difference between what the room costs($25) and what each paid (3 x $9 = $27) is $2. The bellboy kept this. There is no extra dollar.

Answer 3

Well each man paid 10 dollars. The bell hop came up with 5 dollars and gave each man 1 that means he left with 2 that means each man paid 9 dollars equaling 27. keep in mind looking above the room rent was only 25 dollars in the first place so realistically the bell boy stole 2 dollars from the guests. 25 plus 2 equals 27.

That splain it to you Lucy!!

Ricky

Answer 4

It is in the 1/3 of a dollar over eight dollars that each of the men actually owed for the 25 dollar room. You combine that with subtracting 27 from 30 instead of 25 from 27 and baddabing!

Answer 5

It is sort of a mathematical illusion - my brother, a mathematician, explained it to me once, but I can't remember exactly how it went - he was able to explain how there really isn't any missing dollar.

Edit
Found a solution .... here it is ...

The trick is in the wording. When you say "there is 27
plus 2" it is really 27 + 3 so the dollar is actually always
there. The 2 that the salesman kept is actually part of the 27,
and the 3 is added to 27 to make 30.

Here are links that explain it.

Answer 6

No. Each man paid a total of $9. Each man paid $8.33 for the room and 0.67 for the tip. The $2 is already part of the $27. You can't try adding it a second time.

I did a search on "where did the dollar go" and found that this question has been asked 2,230 times in Yahoo! Answers. Is that a record?

Look at those answers.

A few samples...

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=AmbLTVv4Plvr2etxB0vpnBkjzKIX?qid=1006051623801

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=AlIge99kQZPw7VN.j.IjbicjzKIX?qid=1006011602309

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=Alo8j.4cuPOtAWAPHB9sqeIjzKIX?qid=20060605183538AAJYuaI

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=AsLPJwO3BWw8DTyRSU7Ff9AjzKIX?qid=1006031910960

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=AsNKl.WOxOwN209E1yTQroAjzKIX?qid=1006031110597

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=AvZ9PsWiCwYbCX3RC2rQnCojzKIX?qid=1005121503140

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=AmzmN1q.3Lt9X2q_xExCMDYjzKIX?qid=20060624034127AAkdhu6

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=Asimcir13Yax8_VIoqkvR_QjzKIX?qid=1006051529521

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/;_ylt=AkfdzfzSzdpj8vrfvpyWAaAjzKIX?qid=20060708105313AAcXxSX

Answer 7

actually it is a trick question:

$30

-1
-1
-1

= $27

27- 25 (cost of the room) = $2 (bell hop stole it)

that's it, nothing's missing.

Answer 8

tricky at first...but then.....from the 25 plus the 3 and plus the two, you will get 30...splitting it up in the other way will of course generate confusion.

Answer 9

My brain is in an abashing state, it is total befuddlement to handle. It is an impairment of simple mathematical skills, it is so evanescent, ingeniousness . I am in such disconsolateness, I am in necessity to know the answer.

Answer 10

the maid got the other dollar