Three old ladies want to buy a radio, they each put £10 towards it and ask a neighbours son to go and buy it for them. He is a bit crafty and manages to strike a deal with the shop owner to get the radio for £25. He doesn't give the ladies all of the £5 change back, keeping £2 for himself, and returning £1 to each of the three ladies.
This means that each lady paid £9 towards the radio - a total of £27. The lad has kept £2 for himself. That totals £29. So what has happened to the other £1, and why?
I have sort of figured it out, but am not sure if I'm right, perhaps someone with a better mathmatical mind than mine can tell me?
2007-02-15 22:28:10 · 50 answers · asked by fallen angel 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science
I agree with one of the answers here in that it is to do with the 25 divided by 3 equalling £8.33 recurring. And that there is a problem with a combination of calculations with certain figures which do not work out in backwards and forwards combinations of addition/subtraction and multiplication/division?
2007-02-15 22:54:48 · update #1
Hi, nothing happened to the one pound.
As you say, the bloke took 3 times £10 and gave £1 back to each of the ladies, so basically the ladies paid £9 each towards the radio.
So our "total" is £27 and not £30. (this is where one can "lose" a pound!)
He spends £25 on the radio and keeps £2 for himself: 25 + 2 = 27.
Hope this helps.
2007-02-15 22:38:05 · answer #1 · answered by M 6 · 9⤊ 2⤋
The problem is in the second paragraph, where you add the money received to pay for the radio with the change refunded after the purchase.
This does not make practical sense but by saying it quickly it gets overlooked and adds to the mystery.
More correctly, This means that each lady paid £9 towards the radio - a total of £27. The lad has kept £2 for himself. Which means the radio cost £27 (spend) minus £2 (kept by lad) = £25
2007-02-17 04:22:45 · answer #2 · answered by John G 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"each lady paid £9 towards the radio - a total of £27. The lad has kept £2 for himself. That totals £29". This is where it catches people out, think about it: the £27 is the amount of money that did not go back to the ladies, not the amount of money that eventually went towards the radio, so £2 of the £27 goes to the lad and the remaining £25 goes towards the radio.
The wording tricks you into thinking that the money taken by the lad is not part of the £27, but instead part of the money that goes to the ladies.
£25 to radio
£2 to lad
£3 to ladies
=£30
The £27 that totals from each of the ladies' £9 is the sum of the money towards both the shop and the lad, the wording makes it seem like the £2 must be added for the lad after
2007-02-16 05:22:56 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
1
2007-02-16 00:03:23 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
this room has had a few stupid answers on it(no offence).OK. you say that the radio cost £25 and he gave £3 back to the ladies and kept 2 for himself which is 3/(25+3) = 3/28 =9.33. in affect .33 when time by 3 will give .99 but is rounded up into 1 as that is the closest decimal point for a third.
or in another way for calculating it would be 30-2 which is the money the boy kept then 28/3.
so the way you are calculating it is wrong mate and i hope this provides the answer for you and there is no mathematical quandria like some people are suggesting
2007-02-16 09:49:11 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nothing happens to it, think about it. He pays 25 and gives 3 back, that is 28 and he keeps 2, this makes 30. The ladies did not pay 9 pounds each because it cost 25 not 27, So this is a trick, no multiplication or division needed!
2007-02-16 19:42:32 · answer #6 · answered by kyles GG 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your maths is a bit backwards. Read the conundrum carefully and you should be able to work it out.
Hint: the second paragragh is mis-leading.
answer below...
.
.
.
.
.
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Solution
Radio costs £25
The 3 ladies each get £1 back
Lad keeps £2
25+3+2 = 30
The mysterious £1 doesn't come into the equation. The £2 the lad keeps should not be added to the £27 paid by the ladies rather it should be subtracted to give £25 (the price paid for the radio).
2007-02-16 04:30:07 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have to forget the figure of £30.
The 3 ladies paid £9 each making a total of £27. the bill was only £ 25 and the neighbours son pockets the £2 difference...£25 bill plus £2 pocketed equals the £27 the ladies gave him.
regards Gylandrake
2007-02-16 03:03:23 · answer #8 · answered by gylandrake 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The boy took €30 form the old women, gave £1 back to each of the ladies, so basically the ladies paid £9 each towards the radio.
So our "total" is £27 and not £30. which is where you lost that pound
He spends £25 on the radio and keeps £2 for himself: 25 + 2 = 27
The same happens if you count your fingers backwards - you end up with eleven fingers.... You start 10, 9, 8, 7, 6.... then you count the ones on the other hand and add them on 6 + 5=11
This shows the complexity of simple numbers in our world...
2007-02-15 23:27:17 · answer #9 · answered by Lala 3 · 3⤊ 2⤋
The two pounds kept by the lad came from the £27 paid by the ladies, while the rest of their money went to the shopkeeper (£2 + £25 = £27). The confusion is that the question implies you should add the £2 to the amount paid by the ladies, rather than subtract it.
2007-02-18 19:21:59 · answer #10 · answered by Mathemaniac 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is so simple:
25/3 = £8.33 each = £25.00. That bit is simple.
He gave them back a £1 each which means they paid £28 between them = £9.33 each. The boy had £2 which gives a total of £30.
Working backwards: This is the key so listen up. £30 -£3 = £27 is irrelevant - ignore that completely. You must do £25 +£3 = £28
There is one thing that most people are doing wrong:
1) As already stated by Tony H in the 2nd paragraph you have put a total of £9 rather than £9.33. So they have paid £28 not £27.
2007-02-16 00:04:05 · answer #11 · answered by teddyrank 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋