Please Help me answer this????

[monkeygirl]

I think you guys seem to forget: (or perhaps this is what Red J was saying)

 

The 3 guys DID pay $10 each

 

They DID each get $1 back

 

The bell hop DID keep $2

 

It's not as if it never happened, it did...then the change got screwed up

[omnifinite]

Take out some bills and try it out. It works fine then. I just did it and put everything in piles. The men end up with $1 each in their hands. The bellhop has $2. The hotel has $25, which is split into $8.33 (give or take a fraction of a cent) per guy.

 

The guys paid the hotel $27... the hotel has $25... the bellhop has the other $2... the $30 figure seems to be irrelevant. I guess 30-27=3 is just the wrong way of looking at it.

[G95champ]

Right Omnifinite

 

See the trick to the question is when you assume each man paid 10.00 and got back one. That would mean 9x3 which is 27.00. If the bell hop only kept 2 there would be one dollar missing.

 

You are all right but Red J was overlooking the question of 9x3 is 27. Which is the trick in the question because if you go with that line of logic there is a missing dollar as to if you subtract you can account for them.

 

Just one of Math's little qurks. Thats why Im a history guy.

[KU]

It's all in the wording.

 

Each man pays $10- total $30

 

Bell hop gives each man back $1.

 

Therefor each man really pays $9 each- total $27

 

Bell hop takes $2

 

Now you are asked where the xtrea $1 went when you go $27 + $2 = $29, but that is actualy the wrong sum to be doing. The $2 (given to the bell hop) is part of the total ($27) paid by the men. eg $25 (room) + $2 (bell hop) = $27. The $3 differance between the initial $30 and the final $27 is the $3 that was given back to the three men by the bell hop. So $25 (room) + $2 (bell hop) + $3(refund)= $30.

 

See theres no mathimatical trick its all in the wording, the question they ask you is actualy a fulse question that has nothing to do with it.

 

I hope this maks sence I'm almost positive that it's right.

[Red J]

Exactly. I think we've beat this one to death.

[monkeygirl]

yes it is whimpering for mercy....

 

However I do have one more thing to say:

 

The reason why it's different between the methods of solving the problem is the Order of Operations. As we've seen, it makes a very large difference how you solve the problem, and obviously 9x3=27 is the wrong way to solve it. This happens with any math problem that works that way, and being stubborn isn't going to change the laws of math .....believe me, I've tried....