The Cellar  

Go Back   The Cellar > Main > Nothingland
FAQ Community Calendar Today's Posts Search

Nothingland Something about nothing - game threads, diversions, time-wasters

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 11-11-2010, 03:11 PM   #1
Flint
Snowflake
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Dystopia
Posts: 13,136
Impossible Math Problem

Three men check into a hotel room. The price is 30 dollars. They pay 10 dollars each and go to their room.

But wait, the clerk remembers that the weekday rate is 25 dollars--he overcharged them by 5 dollars! So, off he goes to refund the 5 dollars. But...he can't figure out how to divide 5 dollars evenly between the three people, so... he gives them back 1 dollar each, and pockets the other 2 dollars.

Now each man has paid 10 dollars, and has been refunded 1 dollar.

So, each man has paid 9 dollars. 9 times 3 = 27.

The clerk pocketed 2 dollars. 27 plus 2 = 29.

But...they originally paid 30 dollars.
.

.

.



What happened to the other dollar?

.

.

.


.

.

.


.

.

.


.

.

.


.

.

.


.

.

.
Attached Images
 
__________________
******************
There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there
it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your
expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever
gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Bozzio
Flint is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2010, 03:15 PM   #2
xoxoxoBruce
The future is unwritten
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 71,105
It's not 27 + 2, it's 27 - 2 = 25.
__________________
The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.
xoxoxoBruce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2010, 03:16 PM   #3
Sundae
polaroid of perfection
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: West Yorkshire
Posts: 24,185
I once impressed a date by knowing the answer to this.
I dissimulated of course, pretending to work it out there and then.
In fact it had been an ice breaker on a training course I attended.

Silly thing is, the chap I was hell-bent on trying to impress was probably just trying to get into my knickers anyway - we could easily have dispensed with the posturing.
Sundae is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2010, 03:34 PM   #4
Cloud
...
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 8,360
er . . . each man hasn't paid 9 dollars. Each man paid 10 dollars less 1/3 of 5 dollars, which isn't the amount that was refunded to them. Just because the clerk can't do math, doesn't mean there's a "disappearing" dollar.

of course, I'm crap at math, so this could be completely wrong.
__________________
"Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"
Cloud is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2010, 03:56 PM   #5
jimhelm
a beautiful fool
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: 39.939705
Posts: 4,504
the dollar took off from the treadmill in the aeroplane
jimhelm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2010, 04:00 PM   #6
Sundae
polaroid of perfection
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: West Yorkshire
Posts: 24,185
Not wanting to split hairs, given that yours was probably a joking response, but I think the real answer is that Bono had it in his pocket.
Sundae is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2010, 04:22 PM   #7
Flint
Snowflake
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Dystopia
Posts: 13,136
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimhelm View Post
the dollar took off from the treadmill in the aeroplane
No, the dollar can't take off because the clerk is running the exact same speed in the opposite direction.
__________________
******************
There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there
it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your
expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever
gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Bozzio
Flint is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2010, 04:27 PM   #8
Cloud
...
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 8,360
and what were the three men doing in the hotel room in the first place, hmm?
__________________
"Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"
Cloud is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2010, 04:34 PM   #9
Flint
Snowflake
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Dystopia
Posts: 13,136
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloud View Post
and what were the three men doing in the hotel room in the first place, hmm?
You know, that's a really good question. And what kind of place rents one room to three dudes?
__________________
******************
There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there
it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your
expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever
gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Bozzio
Flint is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2010, 04:39 PM   #10
Cloud
...
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 8,360
the kind of place where the clerks can't divide worth shit?
__________________
"Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"
Cloud is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2010, 04:54 PM   #11
smoothmoniker
to live and die in LA
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 2,090
The kind of place that has rooms for $30.
__________________
to live and die in LA
smoothmoniker is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2010, 04:57 PM   #12
jimhelm
a beautiful fool
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: 39.939705
Posts: 4,504
PER HOUR
jimhelm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2010, 05:34 PM   #13
BigV
Goon Squad Leader
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Seattle
Posts: 27,063
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cloud View Post
the kind of place where the clerks can't divide worth shit?
There probably was some shit being divided because we know they weren't in there to multiply.
__________________
Be Just and Fear Not.
BigV is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2010, 05:54 PM   #14
Cloud
...
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 8,360
__________________
"Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards!"
Cloud is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2010, 09:24 PM   #15
footfootfoot
To shreds, you say?
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: in the house and on the street-how many, many feet we meet!
Posts: 18,449
If two men can dig two holes in two hours
and three men can dig three holes in three hours
The how long does it take one man to dig half a hole?
__________________
The internet is a hateful stew of vomit you can never take completely seriously. - Her Fobs
footfootfoot is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:38 PM.


Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.