Loop Hole in math? (riddle)

[trend]

3 people go to the marriot hotel.
the room is 30$, so each pay 10$
while they walk to their room, the bellhop brings them 5$ back, because the room was discounted to 25$.. The bellhop keeps 2$ for his efforts and gives 1$ each to the people.
so each person pays 9$.
9$x3= 27$ + 2$ (the bellhop took) doesn't equal 30$..
where did the dollar go?

yes yes.. you can work this backwords very easily.. and prove each person pays 8.33.. but what is the problem in the wording above?

thanks-Lee

 

[Sahakiel]

No matter how often I look at it, each guy paid $9 and it all works out. There's no loophole.

 

[SmoiL]

I dont see a problem with the wording, 9x3=27. $25 for the room, $2 for tip.

I dont understand why you are adding 27 and 2...

 

[Mannkind]

The problem is it's a riddle worded to trick people. Especially those not too great at math to begin with (no offense to anyone)
30 dollars is paid. Check.
Overpaid by 5. Check
Total is now 25. Check
Consider the 2 dollars a "tip" to make the math easier.
Total is now 27.
Each guy paid... 27/3 ... 9 dollars.

There is no dollar missing. You are adding the "tip" in twice because while it is true each man paid 9 dollars, that included their "tip" as well.

Math works out.

 

[Peter]

Right, with the $3 returned from the $30 originally paid, the total is now $27 _including_ the tip.

 

[Eraserface]

That's an old one.

25 for the room + 2 to the bellboy + $3 refund == $30

Who falls for this stuff?

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: Eraserface
That's an old one.

25 for the room + 2 to the bellboy + $3 refund == $30

Who falls for this stuff?

Idiots, that's who.

 

[OrganizedChaos]

i've read all this and still don't understand it. why does it work backwards but not forwards.

 

[Venix]

Because the math in the riddle is wrong. The $9 each man paid includes the tip. The correct equation is $9*3 = $27 + $3 they didn't pay = $30.

 

[DrPizza]

Or to exagerate the errors in the problem, here's another problem. A 40 year old man, living at 123 ABC Street received an electric bill for $100. He mistakenly wrote a check for $120. The electric company gave him a refund of $20. So, 120 plus the rebate of 20 = 140, minus his age = 100, minus his address = -3. Where'd the 3 dollars go?

 

[kpb]

In both cases they are just throwing a bunch of numbers at you to confuse you.

The first one is taking and using the info in the wrong way.

the 27+ 2 is the wrong way of representing what you have.

the cost of the room is 25$

The tip is 2$

the total paid is 27$ which is = to the 3 x 9 each

27 + 2 is nonsense since it's the cost of room + the tip + the tip so of corse it doesn't match up to anything else since doesn't make any sense.

25 (room) + 2 (tip) = 9 (cost of room per person) x 3 (number of people) = 27

25 (room) + 2(tip) + 3(total they took back) = 10 (cost of room per person) x 3 (number of people) = 30


The second example is even sillier. What relevance does his age or address have on what he paid for the bill or got back from the refund. 120 - 20 refund = 100 what his bill should have been.

 

[TStep]

Cheap B**tards should have gave the bellhop a $5 tip and then nobody would be looking for the dollar!

 

[Hector13]

Originally posted by: trend
yes yes.. you can work this backwords very easily.. and prove each person pays 8.33.. but what is the problem in the wording above?

uh,.. how exactly are you going to "prove" that each person paid 8.33?

 

[LordMagnusKain]

but what is the problem in the wording above?

this part:

3 people go to the marriot hotel, the room is 30$

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Originally posted by: LordMagnusKain

but what is the problem in the wording above?

this part:

3 people go to the marriot hotel, the room is 30$

Good point.

Here's a better example

3 people go to the marriot hotel.
the room is 150$, so each pay 50$
while they walk to their room, the bellhop brings them 25$ back, because the room was discounted to 125$.. The bellhop keeps 10$ for his efforts and gives 5$ each to the people.
so each person pays 45$.
45$x3= 135$ + 10$ (the bellhop took) doesn't equal 150$..
where did the dollar go?

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Originally posted by: LordMagnusKain

but what is the problem in the wording above?

this part:

3 people go to the marriot hotel, the room is 30$

Good point.

Here's a better example

3 people go to the marriot hotel.
the room is 150$, so each pay 50$
while they walk to their room, the bellhop brings them 25$ back, because the room was discounted to 125$.. The bellhop keeps 10$ for his efforts and gives 5$ each to the people.
so each person pays 45$.
45$x3= 135$ + 10$ (the bellhop took) doesn't equal 150$..
where did the dollars go?