[Guest]

3 men go into a motel. The man behind the desk said the room is $30, so each man paid $10 and went to their 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 decides to give each man $1 and kept the other $2 for himself.

This meant that the 3 men each paid US$9 for the room, which is a total of $27. Add the $2 that the bellboy kept brings the total to $29.

Where is the other dollar?

[Guest]

Where is the other dollar?

Edited June 5, 2011 by JLT

[Guest]

but they started off with $30!!

add all the costs up and its only $29

[TheCube]

The fact that you say they all paid 9 dollars make you confused because they ae suppose to have paid $25 and when you give them $3 that makes $28 instead of $27 which explains the missing dollar.

[superprismatic]

This meant that the 3 men each paid US$9 for the room, which is a total of $27. Take away the $2 that the bellboy kept brings the total to $25 which is what the owner got.

[Guest]

It's a play on words: The room cost $25.00, the bell boy took a $2 tip, that totals $27 dollars. The men paid $9 each. Boom! No missing dollar.

[Guest]

but where is it?

the three guys paid 10 each but the bell boy returned 1 each so they only paid 9 each

9 petween the three meant they paid 27

add the 2 from the bellboy and you get 29

how has the last dollar???????????

[Guest]

but where is it?

the three guys paid 10 each but the bell boy returned 1 each so they only paid 9 each

9 petween the three meant they paid 27

add the 2 from the bellboy and you get 29

how has the last dollar???????????

Think of it like The Matrix. There is no dollar.

[Guest]

exactly but there was $30

and u need to find out were the missing dollar is

[Guest]

How can one find that which does not exist? What is the sound of one hand clapping?

It has been explained. The 30 was divided between 25 for the inn, 3 for the men, and 2 for the bellboy. That is where the 30 is. The 27 the men paid in the end was divided between 25 for the inn and 2 for the bellboy. Trying to add the 27 the men wound up paying with the 2 the bellboy kept is a meaningless number that does not describe anything and has no relation to the 30 they originally paid.

exactly but there was $30

and u need to find out were the missing dollar is

[wolfgang]

Each man paid 9$

so...

3 x 9 = 27$

these 27$ are actually a total of:

25$ + 2$ taken by the boy.

now:

27$ paid + 3$ given back to them = 30$

there is No missing Dollar...

[Guest]

There is no missing dollar, the end equation is 25 = 25 or 30 = 30 depending on how you do it.

The only way you get 30 = 29 is if you made a mistake in the order of operations.

The $27 dollars the men spent minusthe $2 dollars equals $25 (25 = 25)this is the way I did it.

It's very simple

[superprismatic]

3 men go into a motel. The man behind the desk said the room is $30, so each man paid $10 and went to their room.

A while later the man behind the desk realized the room was only $1, so he sent the bellboy to the 3 guys' room with $29. On the way, the bellboy couldn't figure out how to split $29 evenly between 3 men, so he decides to give each man $1 and kept the other $26 for himself.

This meant that the 3 men each paid US$9 for the room, which is a total of $27. Add the $26 that the bellboy kept brings the total to $53.

Where did the other $23 come from?

[TheCube]

The rooms cost $1 per person according to the hotel manager. So you can't just subtract 1 dollar from $10 to get a supposed price. That's the same with the original problem.

[Guest]

Once we find out the total for the room is $25.00, the answer to the equation is 25 and is no longer 30.

10+10+10=30

but

10+10+10-5=25

therefore

(10-1)+(10-1)+(10-1)-2=25

another way of saying it is...

The $5.00 to be returned is divided into 3 people. This means each man is owed 1 and 2/3 of a dollar, if each of the 3 men is owed 1 and 2/3 of a dollar, but is only given 1 dollar... you are left with 2/3 of a dollar due to each of the three people and 2/3 x 3 = 2... $2.00

In short there is no missing dollar.

[superprismatic]

The rooms cost $1 per person according to the hotel manager. So you can't just subtract 1 dollar from $10 to get a supposed price. That's the same with the original problem.

No, I simply took the original problem and performed the following substitutions:

$25 becomes $1,

$5 becomes $29,

$2 becomes $26,

$29 becomes $53,

and $1 becomes $23 with an appropriate change to the wording of the last sentence.

[TheCube]

No, I simply took the original problem and performed the following substitutions:

$25 becomes $1,

$5 becomes $29,

$2 becomes $26,

$29 becomes $53,

and $1 becomes $23 with an appropriate change to the wording of the last sentence.

Well, not exactly the same. But I think you know what I mean with the comparisons I made.

[Guest]

The $2 added to $27 is incorrect. The $27 spent by the three guests is basically $25 for rent and $2 for bellboy. And the rest of the 3 dollars were returned to them.