THIS ONE WILL MESS WITH YOUR MIND...

[shirts]

3 MEN GO INTO A MOTEL. THE MAN BEHIND THE DESK SAID THE ROOM IS $30,

SO EACH MAN PAID $10 AND WENT TO THE ROOM.

A WHILE LATER THE MAN BEHIND THE DESK REALIZED THE ROOM WAS ONLY

$25, SO HE SENT THE BELLBOY TO THE 3 GUYS' ROOM WITH $5.

ON THE WAY, THE BELLBOY COULDN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO SPLIT $5 EVENLY

BETWEEN 3 MEN, SO HE GAVE EACH MAN A $1 AND KEPT THE OTHER $2 FOR

HIMSELF.

THIS MEANT THAT THE 3 MEN EACH PAID $9 FOR THE ROOM, WHICH IS A

TOTAL OF $27, ADD THE $2 THAT THE BELLBOY KEPT = $29.

WHERE IS THE OTHER DOLLAR?

[Ebiz]

$25 for the room plus the $2 "tip" the bellboy received makes $27 total or $9 each.

[Sandmannd]

Point is they paid $30 and when it's all said it done it comes to $29. Seen this before. Pretty cool to see stuff that messes with your mind like that.

[Ebiz]

But it doesn't come to 29, they paid $27 total of which the motel received $25 and the bellboy received $2

I do agree it's kinda fun trying to figure these out.

[lawdog]

It doesn't come to 29 Sandmand, the 9X3=27 and already includes the bellboy's $2 plus the $25 the hotel got. You are getting tricked into adding the $2 in again to mess with you.

OK I'll try again Sandmand since you still seem baffled by readin your next post...

They all paid 9 and that adds to 27 and then 2 for the door man equals 29... BUT when they all paid originall, they paid 10, not nine and that gave us 30 dollars. Then they all got one dollar back and that leaves them at 9 each which is 27 total, 25 for the hotel and the two for the bellboy (or bellbabe). There is no other two to add in to make it 29. If you are going to add anything to the 27, it has to be the $3 they got back to get you to the $30...

[Wanderer]

Count it back.

25 for the hotel = 25

1 for guy #1 = 26

1 for guy #2 = 27

1 for guy #3 = 28

2 for the bell boy = 30.\

Yup, it messes with you. I had to think about it a bit.

[Sandmannd]

No I get all that. But in the orignal, they all paid $9 in the end. You take the 9x3 and that's $27 and then the boy kep to which is only $29. Howver, if you count it back like wanderer said, it ads right.

[Jim Uran]

There you go.. now that makes sense of it all. HA HA

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

What if it was a bellgirl?

LOL

Windy

[Matt C]

I am trying to figure out why 3 men went into a cheap hotel room together...

[Wanderer]

 Originally Posted By: Windy City Walleye Hunter

What if it was a bellgirl?

Keep the change, honey.

[Meaney]

OK, where do I keep the Tylenol again!!??!?!?

[fish-n-fool]

Good one bunt.... ha, ha....

[Sandmannd]

 Originally Posted By: bunt2k

I am trying to figure out why 3 men went into a cheap hotel room together...

Well maybe one was that Danny kid from Idol or the male stripper one from there.

[Mugsterdad]

"What if it was a bellgirl?"

She would have kept the $5 and never said boo to anyone!

[Wanderer]

 Originally Posted By: bunt2k

I am trying to figure out why 3 men went into a cheap hotel room together...

Cuz we needed a cheap place to crash for the night when we went to Lake of the Woods.

What other reason would there be??????

[DTro]

 Originally Posted By: Wanderer

Count it back.

25 for the hotel = 25

1 for guy #1 = 26

1 for guy #2 = 27

1 for guy #3 = 28

2 for the bell boy = 30.\

Yup, it messes with you. I had to think about it a bit.

There's still a dollar missing. They each ended up paying $9, that's 27 total. The bellboy kept $2. That's $29 anyway you add it.

[DTro]

oh I get it, The $3 amount that has been returned to the guests is a reduction in the amount that the guests paid, so it should be subtracted from the total. The bellhop returned $3 ($1 each), making their total payment $27 (mathematically, $30 - $3). Note that the $3 is subtracted from the total. If the bellhop then changed his mind and returned the additional $2 to the guests, it would also be subtracted from the total. The mistake is made in trying to add this $2 instead of subtracting it. Simple math demonstrates what readers intuitively sense, that there is no missing money. The sum of their payments is $25 in the till, $2 in the bellhop's pocket (totaling $27), plus the $3 in change that the guests now have, which brings the total up to $30.

The incorrect solution is: ($10 - $1) x 3 + $2 = $29. This equation is not meaningful: the number 29 is not significant to the problem, i.e. there is no "missing $1".

The correct solution is: ($10 - $1) x 3 - $2 = $25. In this case the solution is the bill amount, which is also the amount of money left in the till.

In other words, $27 is the amount that the guests have paid. Of that $27, $25 went into the till and $2 went to the bellhop. The other $3 is returned to the guests.

This problem provides a means to understand how misdirection, and irrelevant facts and questions, can foil clear analysis. Additionally, the tools used to resolve this paradox are used in the analysis of a wide range of financial and scientific areas.

[Double D]

Thanks, dtro, for putting me out of my misery.

DD

[DTro]

Don't thank me, thank Wikipedia

[ocf1]

Haha, nice find Dtro.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

OK, So a change of gears here,

So there is a plane full of Americans all from the United States and the plane crashes right on the border of Italy and France and it is on February 29th which is a leap year. The question is this where will they bury the survivors?

Windy

[Nate McVey]

Warning, Spoiler:

you don't bury survivors............

Next one:

If it were two hours later, it would be half as long until midnight as it would be if it were an hour later. What time is it now?

[Wanderer]

Windy,

Do survivors struggle much when you try to bury them??

[Wanderer]

Shiner,

Nice trick on the spoiler. Didn't click before trying to answer yours.

I get 9 pm, which is 1 hour later than I tried to go to sleep at which has resulted in my being awake at 1 hour past Midnight and not wanting my brain to really comprehend these questions because then it will think its really time to get up instead of realizing it just needs to relax and go back to bed...