brutus
December 22nd, 2007, 04:18 AM
Three men go into a hotel and they ask for a room for the night. The hotel clerk behind the desk tells them that the room will cost thirty dollars for the night. Each man gives the hotel clerk ten dollars for a total of thirty dollars. They are given the room key and they take the elevator up to their room for the night.
Suddenly the hotel clerk remembers that all of the rooms are discounted and that he should have charged the three men only twenty five dollars for the room.
The hotel clerk rings for the bell hop. He tells the bell hop that he overcharged the three men for the room, and he gives the bell hop five dollars and tells him to give it to the men.
On his way up in the elevator, the bell hop looks at the five dollars in his hand and he tries to figure out how he can give three men an equal share of five dollars.
The bell hop isn't good at math and he's a little light-fingered to boot so he takes two of the five dollars and puts them in his pocket. And when he gets to the men's hotel room he knocks on the door and then he tells the men that they were overcharged for the room and he gives each man back one dollar.
Thus
Each man originally paid ten dollars for the room and they were given a dollar back. That means that each man paid nine dollars for the room. If we take nine dollars and multiply it times three, we see that the men actually paid twenty seven dollars for the room. Now if we add the twenty seven dollars that the men paid for the room to the two dollars that the bell hop put into his pocket, we have a total of "twenty nine dollars".
This story started-out with the men paying "thirty dollars". Where did the other dollar go?
.
Suddenly the hotel clerk remembers that all of the rooms are discounted and that he should have charged the three men only twenty five dollars for the room.
The hotel clerk rings for the bell hop. He tells the bell hop that he overcharged the three men for the room, and he gives the bell hop five dollars and tells him to give it to the men.
On his way up in the elevator, the bell hop looks at the five dollars in his hand and he tries to figure out how he can give three men an equal share of five dollars.
The bell hop isn't good at math and he's a little light-fingered to boot so he takes two of the five dollars and puts them in his pocket. And when he gets to the men's hotel room he knocks on the door and then he tells the men that they were overcharged for the room and he gives each man back one dollar.
Thus
Each man originally paid ten dollars for the room and they were given a dollar back. That means that each man paid nine dollars for the room. If we take nine dollars and multiply it times three, we see that the men actually paid twenty seven dollars for the room. Now if we add the twenty seven dollars that the men paid for the room to the two dollars that the bell hop put into his pocket, we have a total of "twenty nine dollars".
This story started-out with the men paying "thirty dollars". Where did the other dollar go?
.