The Missing Dollar
lhill
334 Posts
This is an oldie, but still my favorite brain teaser.
Three salesmen check into a hotel. There is only one room left, so they must share it. The desk clerk tells them the room costs $30. Each of the men gives him $10. They to to their room. The desk clerk realizes he has made a mistake: the room only costs $25. He gives a bellhop $5 and tells him to give it to the three men. The bellhop, figuring they cannot equally divide the $5, pockets $2 and gives the remaining $3 to the men. Now each of the men has paid $9 for the room. $9 times 3 is $27, add the $2 the bellhop kept, and the total is $29. As the problem is stated, where is the other dollar?
Three salesmen check into a hotel. There is only one room left, so they must share it. The desk clerk tells them the room costs $30. Each of the men gives him $10. They to to their room. The desk clerk realizes he has made a mistake: the room only costs $25. He gives a bellhop $5 and tells him to give it to the three men. The bellhop, figuring they cannot equally divide the $5, pockets $2 and gives the remaining $3 to the men. Now each of the men has paid $9 for the room. $9 times 3 is $27, add the $2 the bellhop kept, and the total is $29. As the problem is stated, where is the other dollar?
Comments
I would look at it this way:
each man has $1 so $1 x 3 = $3
the bellhop has $2
the clerk has $25 so
$3 + $2 + $25 = $30
Can I have a dollar now?
This one's cute. I'm going down the hall to wrap the CFO around the axle for a few hours.
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world
(Repeat chorus 12,000 times) xflash
James Sokolowski
HRhero.com
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