I can't figure this out... Mathematical riddel...?

Question

3 MEN GO INTO A HOTEL.
THE MAN BEHIND THE DESK SAID THE ROOM IS $30
SO EACH MAN PAID $10 AND WENT TO THE ROOM.
A WHILE LATER THE MAN BEHIND THE DESK REALIZED THE ROOM WAS ONLY $25
SO HE SENT THE BELLBOY TO THE 3 GUYS' ROOM WITH $5.
ON THE WAY THE BELLBOY COULDN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO SPLIT $5 EVENLY
BETWEEN 3 MEN,
SO HE GAVE EACH MAN A $1 AND KEPT THE OTHER $2 FOR HIMSELF.
THIS MEANT THAT THE 3 MEN EACH PAID $9 FOR THE ROOM, WHICH IS A TOTAL OF $27
ADD THE $2 THAT THE BELLBOY KEPT = $29.
WHERE IS THE OTHER DOLLAR?

Answer 1

There is no other dollar.
They gave $30 and got $1 back each : They gave a total of $27
The manager got $25 and the bellboy $2, adding up to $27 too.

The problem in your riddle is that it is adding money given ($27) to money received ($2), which does not mean anything.

Answer 2

You make the mistake of doing that 9x3 and then adding the 2 the bellboy kept and comparing it with the 30. You can not compare it with the 30. You might say it is that old thing about comparing apples to oranges. You are combing two difference transactions when you should not. You can compare it with the 25 though and 27 - 2 is 25. The fact is the men never paid 9 dollars for the room (if they had then the bellboy would have been returning only 2 dollars).

Instead you should have said each man paid 10 , the bellboy gave back 3 and kept 2 so the cost of the room is 25.

Answer 3

Think about it this way. The bellboy kept $2 from the men, so each man got cheated out of 2/3 of a dollar, or $0.67. If the bellboy gave each man $1.67, he would have given them $1.67*3, or $5.00. Also, the total the men paid after the bellboy gave them money back was $27. This means they overpaid by $2, which the bellboy himself took. That's a good riddle, though.

Answer 4

Old riddle. The problem is misdirection.

The room cost $25. Each man paid $9, so they paid a total of $27. There is $2 missing (the difference between what the men paid and what the room cost). That's the $2 that the landlord kept.

The $30 price and the $5 change is all just misdirection.

Answer 5

The bellboy's $2 shouldn't be added to the total, it should be subtracted.

Answer 6

Taxes. Those crooks always get a cut.

Answer 7

Already answered.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070724214317AASEZb7