3 guys need a hotel to for the night the lady said 30 dollars so they split it 3 ways which.it is10.00 $a piece. Then the lady remembers the room is on special for 25 dollars so she sends the bell hop up with 5 dollars. They each get a dollar and tip the bell hop 2 dollars. Where is the missing dollar...

Because they ended up paying 27 dollars for the room 9 dollars a piece equaling to 27 but then 2 dollar tip for bell hop- were is the 1dollar

No missing dollar, no idea where your 27 comes from

30 minus 5 is 25

You don't concern over 30 any longer,

They got back 5, but only took one each back, 25 pus 3 is 28, not 27.

The missing dollar is in the poor math

yeah - this is kind of goofy:

Original price: $30
Three men each pay $10: 3 x $10: $30
Desk clerk refunds $5
Bell hop keeps $2 of the refund: $5 - $2 = $3
Three men each get $1 back: $3 - $3 = 0

You're even.

There are still some mysteries in this scenario though, which I could not figure out:

- why are 3 men sharing a hotel room?
- where on God's green earth can anyone find a $25 a night hotel with bellhop service?
- why are you letting your relatives talk to you about math? They cleary are not informed on the subject!

I've been telling this riddle for for more than 40 years. It is a mathematical anomaly. When calculated one way: since each man initially paid $10, but got back $1 they paid $9 each and 3*9 is 27, plus the 2 for the bellhop makes $29 there does indeed seem to be a missing dollar. I'm not sure why this anomaly exists but it does.

One way to look at this is to say that 30 doesn't belong; it never existed; it was wrong.
The room cost 25. They paid 10 each. They got back 1 for each man and 2 for the hop. The numbers
10 - 1 = 9
3 x 9 - 2 = 25
are all that exist in this scenario.

Yeah -

They each paid $9. 9 x 3 = $27

This adds up perfectly: $25 for the room and $2 for the bellhop = $27

The error in your calculation, Scott, is that you're adding $2 to the total of $27 to get $29. The $27 already includes the $2 tip. It does not include the $1 each that were returned to the three men. Add that $1/each for the three men and you get to $30

$25 - cost of room
$2 - tip for bellhop
$3 - $1 each returned to each of the three men

$25 + $2 + $3 = $30 which, divided by 3 = $10 for each of the three men.

Nobody calculated wrong. It's a trick puzzle.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by joypulv

Nobody calculated wrong. It's a trick puzzle.

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Exactly, it's a mathematical anomaly. But I like the explanation that the $2 is included in the $27, but not the $3.