A fun little puzzle...?

Question

Three friends are sharing a hotel room. At check in they are told the room costs $30. Each person gives a 10 dollar bill. After the transaction they go to the room. The desk manager comes in and sees the slip, then informs the desk clerk he overcharged the group: the room was only $25. The manager gives the desk clerk five 1 dollar bills and sends him up to the room. On his way he decides it's silly to give 3 people 5 dollars so he pockets 2 and gives one dollar back to each person. 

So here we go: Each person paid 10, and got one back..so each paid 9. 
The clerk pocketed 2.      

9 * 3= 27 +2= 29...where'd the other dollar go?

foxwallow · Accepted Answer

Very sneaky...

Short answer: There is no other dollar.

Long answer: Each person paid 10, and the clerk pocketed two--true. But the money that was paid INCLUDES the money that the clerk pocketed--adding these two numbers together gives a completely meaningless sum. 

Combined, the men hold $3 and paid $27 for the room--25 of which sits in the hotel cash register and 2 of which is held by the dishonest desk clerk.

(Look at it this way... It's like saying I give $1000 to Bill and Steve. Steve gives me $900 back and pockets $1. So I paid 1000 and got 900 back, so I paid 100, and Steve pocketed 1. 

100 + 1 = 101. Where is the other $899? Same question.)

ToLiTz · Answer

it's the desk manager's miscalculation. 


And therefore, we should count starting from the


 10 dollar billx3(since they're 3 friends) =30


But since the room was only 25, we subtract 5 from 30


  30 - 5 = 25.


And since it's difficult to divide 5 by 3, he just slipped in the 2 


dollars so he should have 27 dollars now. 


And he gave the 3 dollars to each of them so we add 3


  27+3= 30


VOILA!!!!!!!!you got the other dollar!

Barkley Hound · Answer

Learn to do math. The formula
9 * 3= 27 +2= 29
should be
9 * 3 = 27 - 2 = 25 which is correct.

You just can add or subtract at will to get an answer.

dlin333 · Answer

there isnt a missing dollar,,,

they paid 27 dollars, the hotel has 25 of it, the desk clerk two of it

LittleBit · Answer

here's the thing, i am good at math, actually i like math, but this is the first time i say , I HAVE NO IDEA!!, lol that is so confusing.....but a 10/10 is given cause i am going to tell my friends..lol after reading one of the answers i get it now ,lol

rand a · Answer

there is no extra dollar, the manager gave the clerk five, and he gave way three of those, and kept two for his own.

mandakathryn02 · Answer

yeah I have pondered this same little question for years...and I suck at math....blows my mind. Even if somebody knew the answer I prob. wouldn't understand the explanation. lol

Anonymous · Answer

In the coke machine on the way to the room? i have no idea~

456512 · Answer

It went in the guys pocket.

misskenjr · Answer

that was awesome.  If I didn't see all the other answers with the explainations, I would be totally dumbfounded.

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A fun little puzzle...?

14 Answers