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An Impossible Math Question

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posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 03:22 PM
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I know this has been around for awhile but I do enjoy odd math questions. If you have insight on this, please share. Just a fun little thread. Here is the question...

Three men go to stay at a motel and the clerk charges them $30.00 for the room. They split the cost ten dollars each. Later the manager tells the clerk that he over-charged the men and that the actual cost should have been
$25.00. He gives the clerk $5.00 and tells him to give it to the men. But he decides to cheat them and pockets $2.00. He then gives each man a dollar. Now each man has paid $9.00 to stay in the room and 3 X $9.00 = $27.00. The clerk pocketed $2.00. $27.00 + $2.00 = $29.00. So where is the other $1.00?



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 03:28 PM
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reply to post by 5pooky
 


hi, 30 total minus 1 pound per person is 27 pounds, and the clerk keeps 2, this equals 25.

if it wasn't for my boss putting this to me a couple of weeks ago i never would have got this lol




posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 03:29 PM
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He couldn't give them each $1.67 back without losing money now could he, so someone would get cheated either way.



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 03:30 PM
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Originally posted by 5pooky

I know this has been around for awhile but I do enjoy odd math questions. If you have insight on this, please share. Just a fun little thread. Here is the question...

Three men go to stay at a motel and the clerk charges them $30.00 for the room. They split the cost ten dollars each. Later the manager tells the clerk that he over-charged the men and that the actual cost should have been
$25.00. He gives the clerk $5.00 and tells him to give it to the men. But he decides to cheat them and pockets $2.00. He then gives each man a dollar. Now each man has paid $9.00 to stay in the room and 3 X $9.00 = $27.00. The clerk pocketed $2.00. $27.00 + $2.00 = $29.00. So where is the other $1.00?


Everything is accurate except your final equation. The actual amount of money the men paid for the room was $27. The actual cost of the room (before being cheated) was $25.

The equation is $25 (actual cost of room) + $2 (stolen money) = $27 (total amount the men parted with)

edit on 10-6-2012 by InTheFlesh1980 because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 03:32 PM
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reply to post by 5pooky
 


lol heres the answer :

The moment he decides to give back $5 then they have paid $25 between 3 and not $10 each.

So $25 split between 3 is $8 and one 3rd.

Then add the $1 each one is given back and you get $9 and a 3rd (Or $9 and 33.333 cent)

so 3 x $9 and a 3rd = $28

$28 + $2 (that the clerk kept ) = $30





edit on 10-6-2012 by PhoenixOD because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 03:32 PM
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Originally posted by 5pooky

I know this has been around for awhile but I do enjoy odd math questions. If you have insight on this, please share. Just a fun little thread. Here is the question...

Three men go to stay at a motel and the clerk charges them $30.00 for the room. They split the cost ten dollars each. Later the manager tells the clerk that he over-charged the men and that the actual cost should have been
$25.00. He gives the clerk $5.00 and tells him to give it to the men. But he decides to cheat them and pockets $2.00. He then gives each man a dollar. Now each man has paid $9.00 to stay in the room and 3 X $9.00 = $27.00. The clerk pocketed $2.00. $27.00 + $2.00 = $29.00. So where is the other $1.00?


All of the money is accounted for. It the premise of the final question that is misleading.
You dont add the 2$ the clerk kept, you subtract it from the 27 to get 25.



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 03:35 PM
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1) $25 in the till
2) Men pay $27 ($9 each)
3) Bellboy takes $2 from men's $27 payment
4) $27 - $2 = $25, the amount in the till



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 03:35 PM
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reply to post by 5pooky
 


Price of room goes down to - $25.00

Men given back 3.00

Hotel clerk pocketed 2.00 (added up this equals the original $30.00)



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 03:41 PM
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reply to post by 5pooky
 

The detail is that the three men also paid for the $2 "tip" that the clerk kept. It's counted twice giving 4, which makes people think there is a missing dollar.

Bad math.


edit on 10-6-2012 by daskakik because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 03:53 PM
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Reply to post by 5pooky
 


Hey, if we're having fun with maths, let STEers have a go at this:

X=Y
X^2=XY
X^2-Y^2=XY-Y^2
(X+Y)(X-Y)=Y(X-Y)
X+Y=Y
2X=X
2=1
??
LOL


 
Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com
 



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 04:08 PM
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reply to post by 5pooky
 


There are three outcomes depending on how daft the Manager is.

We start with $30 in the till.
The Manager then does something strange. Instead of telling the Clerk to refund the men $5 from the $30 already in the till he *adds* another $5 into the equation so there is now $35 circulating, $30 in the till, $2 for the clerk and $3 for the men. Thus we need to account for $35, not $30.

There are now three possible outcomes:

1. The Manager remembers that he gave $5 so he expects to get back $25 for the room and the $5 he added. In this case the Manager has $30, the Men have $3 and the Clerk has $2 which he stole from the men.

2. The Manager forgets he gave $5 and so only expects to get $25 for the room. The men still have $3 and the corrupt little clerk now has $7 because he has ripped off both the men and his boss.

3. The Bank close the Hotel because it is run by a stupid manager and corrupt staff and has not made any money since 1973. The Bank keep the $25, sell the hotel and keep the $1,000,000. The clerk meanwhile gets arrested and spends the next five years too frightened to take a shower.



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 04:18 PM
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Three men find out later that the clerk kept two dollars and drag him out in the street and stomp the crap out of him and take back the two dollars. Then they go back inside and blame the owner for taking the "missing" dollar and stomp him too.



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 04:20 PM
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Originally posted by Jooles
Reply to post by 5pooky
 


Hey, if we're having fun with maths, let STEers have a go at this:

X=Y
X^2=XY
X^2-Y^2=XY-Y^2
(X+Y)(X-Y)=Y(X-Y)
X+Y=Y
2X=X
2=1
??
LOL


 
Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com
 



This equation in your list is not true: (X+Y)(X-Y)=Y(X-Y) unless X = Y and therefore (X - Y) = 0

When you cancel the term (X - Y) from both sides in the next step, you have carried through the improper derivation because the term that evaluates to 0 was required to maintain the equality of X and Y.



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 04:26 PM
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reply to post by Jooles
 


1. X=Y
2. X^2=XY
3. X^2-Y^2=XY-Y^2
4. (X+Y)(X-Y)=Y(X-Y)
5. X+Y=Y
6. 2X=X
7. 2=1
8. ??

Line 4 is where it all starts to go pear-shaped. From line 1 we know that X-Y = 0. To get from line 4 to 5 you divide both sides by (X-Y) which is dividing by 0... does not compute :-)

At line 4 you are simply saying 0 = 0!



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 04:27 PM
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Originally posted by Jooles
2X=X
2=1

This is the part to focus on: When does 2X=X? When X=0, so it would really be 0=0, not 2=1. These types of problems are set up to find the value of x, usually.

So: 2X=X, 2X-X=0, X=0



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 04:41 PM
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Originally posted by 5pooky

I know this has been around for awhile but I do enjoy odd math questions. If you have insight on this, please share. Just a fun little thread. Here is the question...

Three men go to stay at a motel and the clerk charges them $30.00 for the room. They split the cost ten dollars each. Later the manager tells the clerk that he over-charged the men and that the actual cost should have been
$25.00. He gives the clerk $5.00 and tells him to give it to the men. But he decides to cheat them and pockets $2.00. He then gives each man a dollar. Now each man has paid $9.00 to stay in the room and 3 X $9.00 = $27.00. The clerk pocketed $2.00. $27.00 + $2.00 = $29.00. So where is the other $1.00?


Hi,
The manager cheated all four guys.
He has the missing dollar!???



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 04:49 PM
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Each man parted with 9 dollars (9 x 3=27)
Of the $27, manager has $25, clerk has $2
Add in the $3 rebate and you get 25+2+3=$30



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 04:52 PM
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reply to post by 5pooky
 


Which sentence is correct?

1. Two and three ARE four.
2. Two and three IS four.

Which sentence is correct?

1. The egg ARE white in the middle.
2. The egg IS white in the middle.

Verbally ask your friends and family. Most will choose 2 on both questions.


edit on 6/10/2012 by jiggerj because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 05:46 PM
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reply to post by jiggerj
 


Ahhh....yea. The point of this is thread is the oddity of numbers divisible by 3's. But thanks for your unrequested language lesson!

edit on 10-6-2012 by 5pooky because: (no reason given)



posted on Jun, 10 2012 @ 06:32 PM
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Originally posted by jiggerj
reply to post by 5pooky
 


Which sentence is correct?

1. Two and three ARE four.
2. Two and three IS four.

Which sentence is correct?

1. The egg ARE white in the middle.
2. The egg IS white in the middle.

Verbally ask your friends and family. Most will choose 2 on both questions.


edit on 6/10/2012 by jiggerj because: (no reason given)


The answer to both is NEITHER. For obvious reasons..

or is the proper answer NONE for obvious reasons?
edit on 6/10/2012 by VeniVidi because: (no reason given)



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