MATH CAN BE FUN
(It's an old one so many have probably heard already but one of my
favorites...taken from a 1974 math journal "mostly for fun"; Three traveling
men stopped overnight at a hotel and decided to share one room. The room
cost them $10 each. Later that night, the manager returned from a trip and
said that the rate for the room should have been a total of $25; so he gave the
bellboy $5 to return to the men . On his way to the room, the bellboy decided
that three men couldn't divide $5 evenly among themselves; so he kept $2 to
himself and returned $3 to the men. Now, this made the cost of the room
amount to $9 each. In addition, the bellboy had $2. But 9+9+9+2=29. What
happened to the "missing dollar"?
In my opinion the bellboy stole more of a proportion than the 3:1 he would have been entitled to if he were one of the three men...1/3=.333......the mens equal portion is $ 8.33. which equals $25...when the bellboy took 2 dollars he stole an unequal proportion
now, he gets 40% instead of 33% which is 7% more than the three guys paid...so...7% (3) =21%......The $5 given to be paid back is %5 on a hundred so the busboy took 2% on a hundred which equals $2The cost established by the manager was: $30 -$5 =$25. The cost to the customers was ($9)(3)=$27....The difference of $2 is the bellboys theft. That is 27 + (-2) =25 not 29.
