Who can answer this mathematical anomaly?

Question

3 men walk into a hotel to get a room the clerk charges them 30 dollars for a room to share. They split it 10 dollars each. After a little while the clerk realizes the room was only 25 instead of 30 dollars and sends the bell hop up to give the 5 bucks back. The bell hop cant decide how to split the 5 between 3 people so they each take a dollar and give the bell hop 2 for tip.
This means they each paid 9 dollars for the room .
The bell hop has 2 dollars. WHich comes out to 9x3=27 Plus 2 for the Bell hop makes it 29 buks , Where is the other dollar??

This question was asked by some friends and noone can figure it out ..... Can you??? *smile*

Answer 1

well they paid 10 dollars each

so 30 dollars
room was really 25 dollars
5 dollars left
3 to each of the men
2 for the bell hop
30-25=5
5/3=
3 to the men
and 2 to a bellhop
it all adds up to 30

Answer 2

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RE:
Who can answer this mathematical anomaly?
3 men walk into a hotel to get a room the clerk charges them 30 dollars for a room to share. They split it 10 dollars each. After a little while the clerk realizes the room was only 25 instead of 30 dollars and sends the bell hop up to give the 5 bucks back. The bell hop cant decide how to split...

Answer 3

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Mathematics is not perfect (sorry to burst your bubble) and it is even incomplete. Kurt Godel (I've posted a wiki below) proved that, within any collection of mathematical axioms, there are questions which cannot be answered within that set of axioms. So if mathematics is incomplete, then chemistry and physics and all the other sciences are incomplete, since they depend upon mathematics. Kind of comforting in a way...it gives us all some "wiggle room". The only kind of person who'll tell you they know everything is a charlaton or a con-man.

Answer 4

There is an incorrect statement in the given problem:
"Which comes out to 9x3=27 Plus 2 for the Bell hop makes it 29 buks , ..."

If they originally paid $30, but now are getting back $3 each and paying the bell hop $2, it means it is actually costing them $25 (for the room) + $2 (for bell hop) = $27 and getting $3 returned

In other words, instead of writing, "9x3=27 Plus 2 for the Bell hop", which is deceiving, you should think of this like this: "$25+$2=$27 Plus $3 ($1 each for return)"


That's exactly how much it is costing each $9 per person. The $3 ($1 each), they got back.

Answer 5

Mathematuics IS perfect. It's us humans who occasionally interpret it wrongly that create anomalies or paradoxes or fallacies. Mathematics shall always remain the high priestess of all sciences.

Answer 6

Actually, they each paid $8.33 for the room (total $25), each got $1 back (total $28) and the bel hop got a $2 tip (total $30). So out of each man's original $10, each pays $8.33 for the room, gets $1 back, and pays $0.67 for the tip.

It didn't work out for you because the problem tricks you into thinking they each paid $9 for the room, which would only be true if it cost $27. You have to work it out yourself without paying attention to the math they give you.

Answer 7

Figures don t lie but liars figure. The problem is in the way the figures are used not in the figures themselves. I heard this "joke" over fifty years ago and I must admit until today I never had the mathematical solution until today - you can teach an old dog new tricks. New question which person paid the extra penny?

Answer 8

I was here on Y Answers for something unrelated, then this question was trending on the sidebar...