Math problem

[Dan82]

[EWU2012]

Where was this from? The math used is stupid but I am guessing its supposed to be like that. They paid $30 and should have got back $5 which would have cost them $25. They got back $3 instead of the $5 so they technically paid $28. So that comes out to like $9.33 each plus the $2 the guy kept. Sorry i am just love math and couldnt stand this problem.

[Dan82]

Originally Posted by EWU2012

Where was this from? The math used is stupid but I am guessing its supposed to be like that. They paid $30 and should have got back $5 which would have cost them $25. They got back $3 instead of the $5 so they technically paid $28. So that comes out to like $9.33 each plus the $2 the guy kept. Sorry i am just love math and couldnt stand this problem.

That’s no quite right; it took me a while to figure it out as well.

[TheEdend]

Haha man, this is how I know I suck at math xD

Mindfucked tho haha

[Victor]

The clerk kept the $27 while the guys had $3, and 27+3=30.

[Pseudojim]

Spoiler

the house keeps 25.
the man keeps 2.
the three men keep 1 each, for a total of 3.

3 times 9 is 27, but that is the total of what the man keeps and the house keeps, which is 2 + 25 = 27, not what they received back from the man. If you do it the way the riddle suggests you just subtract 3 twice instead of 2 once and 3 once.

[Dan82]

Originally Posted by Pseudojim

Would you mind putting your answer under a spoiler tag?

[Pseudojim]

i don't know how! i'll bumble around...

---------- Post added 23rd Nov 2010 at 03:09 PM ----------

i think that did it

but the answer's still in your quote! =P

GAWD. I hate these kinds of questions but I can't help myself and I always try to figure it out. They're oodles of fun haha xD. I'll take Pseudojim's answer please

[Dan82]

Originally Posted by Pseudojim

i don't know how! i'll bumble around...

---------- Post added 23rd Nov 2010 at 03:09 PM ----------

i think that did it

but the answer's still in your quote! =P

thanks and i deleted it in the quote!

[Moonstrike]

Originally Posted by Dan82

Would you mind putting your answer under a spoiler tag?

I knew the answer too

My grandad used to use the same riddle on us all the time when we were kids

[Pseudojim]

haha, i didn't know it! but i've heard questions very similar before, which rely on syntax to deceive the reader, rather than any mathematical trickery

[fragomatrick]

The question contradicts itslef in the last part.
each man paid 10 dollars..not nine....
or.. i am wrong?
i dont know.
what i know is hate math.

[heatqueen]

I've heard of this riddle before. ^_^ Probably one of my favourites!

[Tim]

Spoiler

Easy.

The original price ($30) was divisible by 3. The price they actually paid, $25 was not. Therefore, the men did not pay equal prices, so multiplication does not matter.

The main Hotel kept $25.
The guy kept $2.
27+3 = 30.

The key is that by deducting $5 from the bill, the number was not divisible by 3, so multiplication should not have taken place.

[heatqueen]

A follow-up to the problem (i.e. mock-resolution) - I got this from Wikipedia by the way:

Spoiler

Follow-up

A follow-up is often mentioned as a mock resolution to the problem.
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 missing dollar from the original problem is!

[Pseudojim]

Originally Posted by heatqueen

A follow-up to the problem (i.e. mock-resolution) - I got this from Wikipedia by the way:

Spoiler

Follow-up

A follow-up is often mentioned as a mock resolution to the problem.
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 missing dollar from the original problem is!

haha, i like that one!