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Logic and Math - A riddle. — Parallax Forums

Logic and Math - A riddle.

doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,246
edited 2006-03-09 10:51 in General Discussion
Some of you may have the same quest for mental stimulation as I do. That is the appeal of the Parallax product line to me. It's different enough from what I do daily for a living that it stimulates my brain quite so. Well, today while browsing around I found I riddle that intrigued me and thought I would share.

Somebody once said...
Three friends check into a motel for the night and the clerk tells them the bill is $30, so each pays the clerk $10 and goes to their room. A few minutes later, the clerk realizes he has made an error and overcharged the trio by $5. He asks the bellhop to return $5 to the 3 friends who had just checked in. The bellhop reasons that the three friends would have a tough time dividing $5 evenly among them; so he decides to tell them that the clerk made a mistake of only $3, giving a dollar back to each of the friends while pocketing the leftover $2. Now, each of the three friends gets a dollar back, thus they each paid $9 for the room which is a total of $27 for the night. Adding that with the $2 the bellhop pocketed, where did the other dollar go?

I have to admit I was stumped. (Then again, I don't always do well with riddles.)

Any "riddle masters" around?





























Don't read ahead. The answer is in the first reply. [noparse]:D[/noparse]



































[noparse]:D[/noparse]

Post Edited (doggiedoc) : 3/4/2006 8:52:55 PM GMT

Comments

  • Mike GreenMike Green Posts: 23,101
    edited 2006-03-04 20:47
    You don't add the $2 to the $27, you subtract it to get the $25 actually paid to the motel. They paid $25 to the motel and $2 to the bellhop for a total of $27.
  • Beau SchwabeBeau Schwabe Posts: 6,572
    edited 2006-03-04 21:06
    You have to look at it from the net amount..


    The net starts out at $30
    $30 = $10 + $10 + $10


    Then because of the error, the clerk pays back $5, so the net amount that the three guys
    should pay is $25. However , since the bellhop was dishonest and couldn't figure out
    how to pay two guys $1.67, and the third guy $1.66, he keeps $2 for himself thus making
    the net amount the three gentlemen paid come to $27. So the three gentlemen pay the
    clerk $25 and they pay the bellhop $2.

    $27 = $9 + $9 + $9

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    Beau Schwabe

    IC Layout Engineer
    Parallax, Inc.
  • kjennejohnkjennejohn Posts: 171
    edited 2006-03-04 21:24
    It's all in how you phrase the situation. Doggiedocs riddle lays it out such that a dollar of the $30 can't be accounted for.
    If we restate it as: The hotel got $25; The guests got $3; and The bellhop got $2, then all that (25 + 3 + 2) adds up to the $30.

    There's probably a four syllable word that covers this situation. I personally believe we have WAY too much idle time here ;>)

    kenjj
  • Beau SchwabeBeau Schwabe Posts: 6,572
    edited 2006-03-04 21:27
    kenjj said...
    There's probably a four syllable word that covers this situation. I personally believe we have WAY too much idle time here ;>)

    smilewinkgrin.gif It's the weekend, and I've been doing yard work.... I needed a mental exercisesmilewinkgrin.gif

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    Beau Schwabe

    IC Layout Engineer
    Parallax, Inc.
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2006-03-04 22:12
    In that case...

    http://www.planarity.net

    I can do a level 20 in about 15 minutes on a good day...

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  • steve_bsteve_b Posts: 1,563
    edited 2006-03-05 12:50
    I read this riddle and had to go do yard work!

    Beau Schwabe (Parallax) said...
    kenjj said...

    There's probably a four syllable word that covers this situation. I personally believe we have WAY too much idle time here ;>)


    smilewinkgrin.gif It's the weekend, and I've been doing yard work.... I needed a mental exercise smilewinkgrin.gif
    confused.gif

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    ·

    Steve

    "Inside each and every one of us is our one, true authentic swing. Something we was born with. Something that's ours and ours alone. Something that can't be learned... something that's got to be remembered."
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2006-03-05 13:42
    Has anybode read Martin Gardner's books. Such as The Colossal Book of Mathemmatics.
    It is chock full of this kind of material and more.

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    "When all think alike, no one is thinking very much.' - Walter Lippmann (1889-1974)

    ······································································ Warm regards,····· G. Herzog [noparse][[/noparse]·黃鶴 ]·in Taiwan
  • John Raplee, JrJohn Raplee, Jr Posts: 32
    edited 2006-03-09 02:49
    Beau Schwabe (Parallax) said...
    kenjj said...
    There's probably a four syllable word that covers this situation. I personally believe we have WAY too much idle time here ;>)

    smilewinkgrin.gif It's the weekend, and I've been doing yard work.... I needed a mental exercisesmilewinkgrin.gif

    Sure must be nice to be able to do yardwork in the middle of winter...· Only about 2 feet of snow here in Oslo, Norway LOL

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  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2006-03-09 10:51
    John Raplee, Jr said...


    Sure must be nice to be able to do yardwork in the middle of winter...· Only about 2 feet of snow here in Oslo, Norway LOL
    So that's where all the snow went.
    We only got a few inches up here in Molde...



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    Don't visit my new website...
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