Three men check into a flea-bag motel. The reservation clerk says it'll be 10 dollars each, for three rooms. They pay thirty bucks, they go up stairs to their roach ridden place and he has a stab of conscience which says "i think i charged them too much, i should give them so money back." He calls his bell hop and gives him a five dollar bill and says "take this up to those 3 guys." The bellhop on the way up thinks "how do i split this five dollar bill? I'll give them each a dollar and keep two for myself, how will they know the difference?" He gives each of them a dollar back, which means now they payed 9 dollars for the room, which is 27 dollars. Plus the 2 dollars the bell hop keeps = 29 dollars. What happened to the other dollar??
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Whats the answer?
- Thread starter MJW249
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They didn't pay $9 for the room. I think it's an order of operations thing.
Taking $5 off the bill makes them each pay $8.33 for the room.
Am I close?
Taking $5 off the bill makes them each pay $8.33 for the room.
Am I close?
A few months later, two of the original three guests check into a hotel room in the same hotel. The clerk says the bill is $20, so each guest pays $10. Later the clerk realizes the bill should only be $15. To rectify this, he gives the bellhop $5 to return to the guests. On the way to the room, the bellhop realizes that he cannot divide the money equally. As the guests didn't know the total of the revised bill, the bellhop decides to just give each guest $1 and keep $3 for himself.
Now that each of the guests has been given $1 back, each has paid $9, bringing the total paid to $18. The bellhop has $3, so $18 + $3 = $21, and the guests originally handed over $20, so that's where the first missing $1 went!
Now that each of the guests has been given $1 back, each has paid $9, bringing the total paid to $18. The bellhop has $3, so $18 + $3 = $21, and the guests originally handed over $20, so that's where the first missing $1 went!
The total bill is 30 - 5 = 25. With giving each a dollar the total bill is still 25, but they paid 27 and the bellhop kept 2. So, 27 - 2 = 25.
Your poor financial planning skills is what happened. It's simply a trick. There is no other dollar. The only people who spend more than 30 seconds thinking about it are those with poor financial skills themselves.
-aggie- explained the actual way to count it, so no need to repeat it.
Follow the money, as they say. Account for every dollar where it is right now and you'll see that you've incorrectly framed the question.
25 in the till in the hotel office
2 in the bellhop's pocket
1 in the first man's pocket
1 in the second man's pocket
1 in the third man's pocket
30 dollars total
Each man has paid 9 dollars, for 27 total. The clerk in the office has 25 of that, and the bellhop has the other two.
25 in the till in the hotel office
2 in the bellhop's pocket
1 in the first man's pocket
1 in the second man's pocket
1 in the third man's pocket
30 dollars total
Each man has paid 9 dollars, for 27 total. The clerk in the office has 25 of that, and the bellhop has the other two.
The wording of the problem is what is misleading.
30 (original price) - 5 (discount) = 25 (new price)
5 - 3 (# of patrons) = 2 (amount bellhop keeps)
No missing dollar.
30 (original price) - 5 (discount) = 25 (new price)
5 - 3 (# of patrons) = 2 (amount bellhop keeps)
No missing dollar.