Help - does anyone know the answer

[fibi]

3 Men Go Into A Hotel. The Man Behind The Desk Said The Room Is £30.00 So Each Man Paid £10.00 And Went To The Room. A While Later The Man Behind The Desk Realized The Room Was Only £25.00
So He Sent The Bellboy To The 3 Guys' Room With £5.00 On The Way The Bellboy Couldn't Figure Out How To Split £5.00 Evenlybetween 3 Men, So He Gave Each Man A £1.00 And Kept The Other £2.00 For Himself. This Meant That The 3 Men Each Paid £9.00 For The Room, Which Is A Total Of £27.00, Add The £2.00 That The Bellboy Kept = £29.00

Where Is The Other Pound?

[flashy]

if they paid £25 and he gave each man £1 each that comes to £28...then men didnt pay £9 each, they paid £8.33333333333333333333333333(ok maybe not as many 3's as that but you get what i mean)

[emamum]

aaaargh...... numbers!!!!!!

[panther]

bloody maths!!, i hate maths!!....

[Caz]

£30 - £3 - £2 = £25, surely??

[K.S.H]

Originally Posted by cazzer

£30 - £3 - £2 = £25, surely??

This was doing the rounds when I was at school and that was they way we were told to work it out, if they paid £30 to the hotel then they refund £5 that means they paid £25 plus £3 refund plus the £2, known as a mathematical error, your working on figures that don't really exist - ie the £27

[Neil]

So are you saying that each man did not pay £9? 3 lots of £9 was £27 when I was at school

[K.S.H]

They didn't pay £9 they paid £10 (£30) and had £5 refunded, I know what your getting at and it doesn't work out, it "appears" that theres £1 missing, we got told the right way to work it out was the way cazzer posted.
Another way of putting it is, they paid £30 to hotel, hotel refunded £5, blokes got £3 each = £27 paid, problem is when you add the £2 that was pocketed, it's being added instead of being taken away

[K.S.H]

Or think of it this way, paid £30, got £5 refunded = £25 to hotel
They paid £30, £10 each, got £1 refunded = £9 each =£27
They paid £27, hotel has £25, porter has £2 = no money missing

[jambutty]

It is best to work this out in fractions.

The men paid £30 between them or £10 each.

As the room was only £25 it should have been 25/3 = 8 and one third pounds each.

Each man therefore paid 1 and two thirds pounds too much

They were then given £1 each so they still paid two thirds pounds too much.

Two thirds pounds multiplied by three is 6 thirds pounds or £2 which the bellboy kept.

[Caz]

Overcomplicating things a bit I would say???

[K.S.H]

If fractions come into it the porter would have paid them £1.66 each

[Neil]

Originally Posted by cazzer

Overcomplicating things a bit I would say???

It works though doesn't it?

And it makes sence as well.

[jambutty]

Originally Posted by cazzer

Overcomplicating things a bit I would say???

You may find fractions complicated and they are more difficult to work with than decimals, especially in mental arithmetic, but they are still a bona fide way of calculating.

[WillowTheWhisp]

It's simple. You don't add the £2 onto the £27 to get £29.

You take the £2 off the £27 to get the £25 cost of the room.