Math problem?

Question

Three salesmen are in town for a convention. needless to say motel rooms are sold out. Finally they find one, but it only has one room available. They ask the desk clerk how much it would cost for one night. Knowing he has the only room left for miles around, he decides to take advantage of the three men. He tells them that the room goes for $30.00 per night. They agree to this, and each man hands the clerk $10.00. This totals $30.00. The bellboy takes their bags up to the room and wiahes them a good night. Alittle while later the clerk has an attach of the gilts and calls the bellboy over and gives him $10.00 instructing him to go up to their room and explain to them that he over charged them and wished to make things right. While the bellboy was on his way up to their room he got thinking,,, the three men wouldn't know how much money the clerk gave him, so he puts $2.00 in his pocket. Now each man paid $9.00. 3 X $9.00 = $27.00 plus the $2.00 for the bellboy = $29.00. $1.00 missing ?

Answer 1

Um, no...

Initially,
x,y,z = $10
b,c = $0

then the clerk charges $10 to each...
x,y,z,b = $0
c = $30

he gives $10 to the bell boy...
x,y,z = $0
b = $10
c = $20

bell boy keeps $2 and divides the rest between the three men:
b = $2
c = $20
x,y,z = 8/3 = $2.67

the $30 is all still there... the three men did not pay $9, they paid $7.33. Three times that is $22, which is the amount that the bell boy and the clerk now have.

Answer 2

First, there's an internal inconsistency that needs to be straightened out before we get to your final "puzzle" about a dollar apparently missing:

If each salesman has ended up paying $9, then the bellboy must have given each of them exactly $1 back. So the manager must have given the bellboy $5, not $10. O.K.? I'll proceed with the assumption that that change is correct.

So, between them the salesmen have paid $27 for the room. That $27 is the sum of what went to the manager ($25) and the $2 the dishonest bellboy pocketed. Everything is consistent here.

The misleading thing in the way that the question is posed is ADDING the bellboy's $2 to the $27 figure, instead of recognizing that his $2 is a dishonest cut FROM that figure. In other words, the bellboy's purloined $2 should be SUBTRACTED from what the salesmen paid, in total, to yield the reduced amount now in the manager's hands.

Arithmetically:

$27 (net total paid) = $25 (to manager) + $2 (pocketed);

and, consistently with that,

$27 (net total paid) - $2 (pocketed) = $25 (to manager).

There is NO $29 knocking around.

Answer 3

Not this old question... but you meant the manager returned $5, not $10.

And it is $27 *minus* $2 to get the adjusted price of the room ($25)... not adding.

Answer 4

9x3= $27 for the room including the two dollar tip
1 dollar returned to each = 3$
total = $30

Answer 5

you must be an idiot

try this
30 - 2 =28
28/3=9.333
Each man paid 9.333 not 9.

Answer 6

Wilkenmj , Good question. I haven't heard that one in a long time!
Do you want me to submit the answer ? or should we let people scratch their barins ?

Answer 7

the anwser is gay to the 3rd pwer