Question...?

Question

Ok, I've got a question I haven't figured out just yet. Three men walk into a hotel, and pay $30 (total) to share a room for the night. After paying, the manager comes out and says their total should have been $25. Their refund is $5, but since the $5 is not evenly dividable three ways, each man receives $1, leaving the manager with the other $2. Since originally each man was paying $10 ($10x3=$30) for the room, and now each is paying $9 ($10- $1 refund), that leaves the total charge being $9x3=$27. If the manager kept $2, the total comes to $29 ($27+$2), where is the 30th dollar?

Answer 1

Each man gave $10
Manager rec'd $30
Manager refunded $3
Manager kept $2

10x3=$30 Total cost, initially
30-25=$5 Refunded total
5-3=$2 Mgr kept $2

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

I heard this same riddle about 7 years ago. The whole riddle is about fuzzy logic and presenting the information in such a way that the other person is dealing with accurate, but wrong information when trying to figure it out.

They paid $30. $25 of it is sitting in the cash register. $3 is in the hands of the men and $2 is in the manager's hand. $25+2+3 = $30. They did in fact pay $27 for the room, however $25 is in the cash register and $2 is in the manager's hand. It is very simple when you ignore the conclusions drawn and come to your own :)

Answer 4

if nothing else this will certainly get them thinking,ay :) well done.