Three men went to motel. Clerk charged $10 each. Men went to their rooms. Clerk discovered he had charged too much. Gave 5$ to bell hop to return to the men. Bell hop could not split $5 evenly. He kept $2 and gave the men $1 each. Each man now has paid $9 each. That comes to $27. The bell hop got $2. That total $29. Where did the other $1 go?
2006-09-14 08:51:38 · 12 answers · asked by Hardknocks 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
This particular item stumps a good many people because it contains a simple error which is often overlooked due to its deceptive wording. Tracking the money through the transactions reveals that no money has gone missing:
1) The three men start out with $10 each ($10 x 3 = $30).
2) The three men pay $30 for a hotel room. Afterwards, a five dollar overcharge is returned to them ($25 + $5 = $30).
3) The bellboy divides up the $5 overcharge, returning $1 to each of the three men (for a total of $3) and keeping $2 for himself ($25 + $3 + $2 = $30).
Where did the missing dollar go? Nowhere. A dollar only goes "missing" because the statement "each man paid $9 for the room" is wrong -- each of three men paid out a total of $9, but that $9 included both the room charge and the bellboy's tip. All in all, each man paid out a total of $9 and had $1 left over, completely accounting for the $30 they started with.
The room cost $25, so each man paid one-third of that cost ($8.33). The bellboy kept a tip of $2, so each man paid one-third of that cost ($0.67) as well. Overall, each man paid out $9 ($8.33 + $0.67) and had a dollar left over: (3 x $9) + (3 x $1) = $27 + $3 = $30.
Any dollars still left unaccounted for may be sent to ME for proper disposal.
2006-09-14 08:53:27 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The price of the room was switched from $30 to $25 so you can't use the $30 any more in the math. Use the $25 figure instead. The bell boy kept $2 for himself. The men paid $27. $27 - $2 = $25 which is the new price of the room. The men overpaid by $2 due to the bellboy's shady handling of the refund.
2006-09-14 08:59:26 · answer #2 · answered by Sister Di 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is a misdirection (not keeping the signs right)
Think of money going to the hotel as + and money going to a person as -.
+10 +10 +10 = + 30 going to the hotel originally
-5 goes to the bell hop (+25 for hotel)
-1 goes to each man
-2 goes to bell hop
Each man paid 10-1 = +9
Bell Hop keep 2 = -2
+9 +9 +9 -2 = +25 for the hotel.
2006-09-14 08:57:18 · answer #3 · answered by T 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Stop asking this question!!!
Each man paid $9 ... 3*9 = 27.
Of this $27, $25 went to the motel and the bell hop kept $2.
Case closed.
2006-09-14 08:55:46 · answer #4 · answered by Will 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
threer men paid $30 first, but got bacl $3. So the real cost was $27.
Since Clerk is keeping $25, and the bell boy is keeping $2, the total matches to $27 of what three men paid.
2006-09-14 09:02:05 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
okay the clerk had 30.00 and gave the bellhop 5. the bellhop kept 2 so the total is now 28. 28-3 (because the bellhop gave each of the three men one dollar) is 25. One man paid 8.34 for his room and the other two paid 8.33 each. end of story.
2006-09-14 09:02:54 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
there is no missing dollar as you can see 30-5=25 25+3(1 for each man)+2=30
2006-09-14 08:55:52 · answer #7 · answered by arctic storm 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
formerly the $260 information: chum A contributed $one hundred. chum B contributed $one hundred. chum C contributed $one hundred. After the $260 information: Salesman removes $40 from $3 hundred. Salesman has $10 chum A has $10 chum B has $10 chum C has $10 this ability that chum A has contributed $one hundred - $10 = $ninety chum B has contributed $one hundred - $10 = $ninety chum C has contributed $one hundred - $10 = $ninety chum A has: $10 chum B has: $10 chum C has: $10 Salesman has: $10 merchandise costs: $260 This nevertheless provides as much as $3 hundred. $270 went in the direction of buying the object. $10 became pocketed by ability of the assistant, leaving $260. The $10 not at all went in the direction of buying the object. there is not any $20 to be accounted for.
2016-10-15 00:12:39 · answer #8 · answered by chowning 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
there is no other dollar, 30 came in, five back makes 25 in the till, two for the bellhop and one each for the men you count 30.
2006-09-14 08:57:08 · answer #9 · answered by rand a 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
simple question, which I used to play with my friends in the fifties!
2006-09-15 05:48:10 · answer #10 · answered by PAL L 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋