Maths brainbuster!

[Rat Luv]

Somebody shared this maths puzzle and it’s done my head in 

Three men go into a restaurant for lunch. The bill comes to £30, so they pay the waiter £10 each.

When the waiter goes back into the kitchen, the owner reminds him that today’s a special lunch deal and should only have cost £25. The waiter doesn’t know how to split £5 between three people, so he gives each man £1 in change and keeps £2 as a tip.

So – each man paid £9 for the meal – 3 x £9 = £27

The waiter kept £2 - £27 + £2 = £29

SO WHERE IS THE MISSING £1?

I can’t figure it out! Is everything we were taught in maths a lie? 

[Silent Mistwalker]

There isn't one missing. You typoed.

22 minutes ago, Rat Luv said:

The waiter kept £2 - £27 + £2 = £29

He gave back 3 not 2. 

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by Silent Mistwalker

[Rat Luv]

27 minutes ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

There isn't one missing. You typoed.

He gave back 3 not 2. 

 

No, that's the £2 he kept for his tip- the men got £1 each back.

The £1 is still missing 

[Rat Luv]

Or then it'd be £6 change if he kept £3? 

This is bonkers.

[Sid Nagy]

The moment the waitress gave back 3 dollars, the 30 dollars no longer existent as a transaction.
Then there is only a 27 dollars transaction left. And that is exactly the correct amount. Namely 25 dollar for the food and 2 dollars for the tip.
There is no dollar missing at all because 30-3=27  and those 27 contains two parts: 25 (food) and 2 (tip).
 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Sid Nagy
In British pounds it is the same solution.

[LittleMe Jewell]

Maybe this will help explain it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_dollar_riddle

[Silent Mistwalker]

18 minutes ago, Rat Luv said:

No, that's the £2 he kept for his tip- the men got £1 each back.

The £1 is still missing 

5 - 2 = 3 not 2

He gave the 2 back out of the 5 that wasn't supposed to be charged. They were only supposed to be charged a total of 25 add the 2 tip and you get 27. Nothing is missing. It's like an optical illusion, your brain is fooling itself. Let it rest a bit and then come back to it. It'll make sense then.

 

Edit: Forget about the 3. That's what confusing you.

30 - 5 = 25

25 + 2 tip = 27

The 3 has been given back so it doesn't even figure in. That's what is throwing you, 

 

OR

They were over charged by 5. Waiter gives back the whole 5 and they turn around and give him 2 in tip.  

 

30 - 5 + 2 = 27

 

 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Silent Mistwalker

[Rat Luv]

1 minute ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

Let it rest a bit and then come back to it. It'll make sense then.

I think I had better ! 🤭 thanks to you and Sid and LittleMe...but I still don't get it, lol. Good night 😴

[Silent Mistwalker]

1 minute ago, Rat Luv said:

I think I had better ! 🤭 thanks to you and Sid and LittleMe...but I still don't get it, lol. Good night 😴

I was editing! read again please lol

[Rowan Amore]

30-25=5 overpaid

5-3=2 tip

Edited September 26, 2021 by Rowan Amore

[Bree Giffen]

Here. All the money is accounted for!

	Meal	Waiter	Return	Total
Man 1	8.33	0.67	1	10
Man 2	8.33	0.67	1	10
Man 3	8.34	0.66	1	10
Total	25	2	3	30

 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Bree Giffen
Setting up table

[Mollymews]

3 hours ago, Rat Luv said:

So – each man paid £9 for the meal – 3 x £9 = £27

this is correct. Each man paid 9 pounds including tip

[Odaks]

On a similar vein, when asked how EU finances worked, an accountant said, "Let me explain it like this....

A salesman walks into an hotel and asks if there is a room available for that night. The proprieter says that there is indeed a room, the best in the hotel and, due to it being the town's patron saint day, it is on special offer at merely €50. "May I see the room?". asks the salesman.

"Yes sir, of course; but may I see your €50?"

The salesman lays a €50 note on the counter and the proprietor cries out, "Pierre, Pierre!! Show this gentleman our finest penthouse room!". The boy, Pierre, and the salesman disappear up the stairs.

The moment they are out of sight, the proprietor grabs the €50 note and runs out of the door and down the road to the butcher's shop. "René, my friend, here is the €50 that I owe you for meat that you sold to me last week." Recovering from the shock of having been paid early (an unknown event in this neck of the woods), the butcher grabs the €50 note, jumps onto his bicycle and pedals furiously to the farm, just outside the town.

The butcher says, "Charles. here is the €50 that I owe you for beef, from last week!".

The farmer duly hops onto his tractor, clutching the €50 note. Arriving at the Feed Merchant's premises, the farmer calls out, "Bernard, you old swindler, here is the €50 I owe you for animal feed!"

...and the Feed Merchant jumps into his car and drives at breakneck speed, back into town, to a narrow backstreet. "Lil, my sweetest, here is the €50 I owe you for, um.... er... you know...remedial services".

Lil, smiling at her good fortune, walks around the corner to the hotel. "Jaques, here is the €50 I owe to you for last week's room hire", she declares to the proprietor, and slaps the €50 note down onto the counter.

Meanwhile, Pierre and the salesman finish descending the stairs. "I'm sorry", says the salesman. "I do not like the room at all. I shall seek elsewhere." He picks up the €50 note and walks out of the hotel.

And everyone has been paid.

 

[Silent Mistwalker]

Let's make this easier. 

Say we went to lunch and I paid the 30 (2 tens and 2 fivers). Waiter comes back to the table and says I've been overcharged by 5. He returns 5 to me and I hand him 2 in tips

So again 30 - 5 = 25 and 25 + 2 = 27  or 30 -5 + 2 = 27

What happened to the 3? It's in my pocket because I had change. The waiter never got his hands on it. lol

 

 

Edited September 26, 2021 by Silent Mistwalker

[Ceka Cianci]

5 hours ago, Rat Luv said:

Somebody shared this maths puzzle and it’s done my head in 

Three men go into a restaurant for lunch. The bill comes to £30, so they pay the waiter £10 each.

When the waiter goes back into the kitchen, the owner reminds him that today’s a special lunch deal and should only have cost £25. The waiter doesn’t know how to split £5 between three people, so he gives each man £1 in change and keeps £2 as a tip.

So – each man paid £9 for the meal – 3 x £9 = £27

The waiter kept £2 - £27 + £2 = £29

SO WHERE IS THE MISSING £1?

I can’t figure it out! Is everything we were taught in maths a lie? 

Do it as if the waiter gave back 5 for the men to split themselves, then they tip the waiter 2.  Look at it as only two tipped the waiter..

25 + tip =27

 

[Ceka Cianci]

41 minutes ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

Let's make this easier. 

Say we went to lunch and I paid the 30 (2 tens and 2 fivers). Waiter comes back to the table and says I've been overcharged by 5. He returns 5 to me and I hand him 2 in tips

So again 30 - 5 = 25 and 25 + 2 = 27  or 30 -5 + 2 = 27

What happened to the 3? It's in my pocket because I had change. The waiter never got his hands on it. lol

 

 

Damn, I didn't see yours until after i posted.. hehehehe

[Mollymews]

2 hours ago, Odaks said:

On a similar vein, when asked how EU finances worked, an accountant said, "Let me explain it like this....

A salesman walks into an hotel and asks if there is a room available for that night. The proprieter says that there is indeed a room, the best in the hotel and, due to it being the town's patron saint day, it is on special offer at merely €50. "May I see the room?". asks the salesman.

"Yes sir, of course; but may I see your €50?"

The salesman lays a €50 note on the counter and the proprietor cries out, "Pierre, Pierre!! Show this gentleman our finest penthouse room!". The boy, Pierre, and the salesman disappear up the stairs.

The moment they are out of sight, the proprietor grabs the €50 note and runs out of the door and down the road to the butcher's shop. "René, my friend, here is the €50 that I owe you for meat that you sold to me last week." Recovering from the shock of having been paid early (an unknown event in this neck of the woods), the butcher grabs the €50 note, jumps onto his bicycle and pedals furiously to the farm, just outside the town.

The butcher says, "Charles. here is the €50 that I owe you for beef, from last week!".

The farmer duly hops onto his tractor, clutching the €50 note. Arriving at the Feed Merchant's premises, the farmer calls out, "Bernard, you old swindler, here is the €50 I owe you for animal feed!"

...and the Feed Merchant jumps into his car and drives at breakneck speed, back into town, to a narrow backstreet. "Lil, my sweetest, here is the €50 I owe you for, um.... er... you know...remedial services".

Lil, smiling at her good fortune, walks around the corner to the hotel. "Jaques, here is the €50 I owe to you for last week's room hire", she declares to the proprietor, and slaps the €50 note down onto the counter.

Meanwhile, Pierre and the salesman finish descending the stairs. "I'm sorry", says the salesman. "I do not like the room at all. I shall seek elsewhere." He picks up the €50 note and walks out of the hotel.

And everyone has been paid.

 

this is the reason why money got invented, to facilitate trade.  Without money each person would only have been able to pay in goods, or pay with a IOU (a personally-issued promissory note) to receive goods or services

for the hotieler to get meat, the butcher would have received a hotel room voucher ( a privately-issued promissory note)

the butcher would have paid the farmer with the voucher

the farmer would have paid the feed store with the voucher

the feed store owner would have paid for remedial services with the voucher

the service provider would have paid for the hotel room with the voucher

the problem with the promissory note system is that not everybody in the chain wants a hotel room voucher (privately-issued promissory note) for their goods/services

so the State invented money (a publicly-issued promissory note) to facilitate trade

 

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

8 hours ago, Rat Luv said:

WHERE IS THE MISSING £1?

It ceased to exist and triggered a vacuum decay, eating up the universe around it with a growing sphere of nothingness expanding at the speed of light.

 

[Orwar]

   51 years ago it would have been easier.

[Rat Luv]

12 hours ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

Edit: Forget about the 3. That's what confusing you.

30 - 5 = 25

25 + 2 tip = 27

The 3 has been given back so it doesn't even figure in. That's what is throwing you,

Oh yes, I see it now 😎!Thanks.

[Rat Luv]

4 hours ago, Arduenn Schwartzman said:

It ceased to exist and triggered a vacuum decay, eating up the universe around it with a growing sphere of nothingness expanding at the speed of light.

That was actually my first answer! 😮

[Innula Zenovka]

14 hours ago, Rat Luv said:

Somebody shared this maths puzzle and it’s done my head in 

Three men go into a restaurant for lunch. The bill comes to £30, so they pay the waiter £10 each.

<snippity>

So – each man paid £9 for the meal – 3 x £9 = £27

I'd misread the original problem, but yes, the waiter doesn't know how to divide 5 by 3, but it's 1.667.    Anyway, it doesn't matter, because all the waiter knows is that he owes them £5,  because he does know that 30 minus 25 is 5. 

So he puts 5 x £1 coins on the table, because he doesn't have a £5 note available. 

At this point the customers have their money back.

They then give him a £2  tip, and there's still 3 coins on the table waiting them to pick up, which they do, one each.

If the waiter then wants to calculate each customer's contribution to his £2 tip, he can ask someone to work out for him that they gave him 66.667p each, but that doesn't really matter.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Innula Zenovka

[Silent Mistwalker]

I think Rat has picked up on needing to use the correct mathematical formula in order to get accurate results. I did manage to learn something in the first weeks of Pre-Algebra. 🤭

Edited September 26, 2021 by Silent Mistwalker

[Innula Zenovka]

41 minutes ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

I think Rat has picked up on needing to use the correct mathematical formula in order to get accurate results. I did manage to learn something in the first weeks of Pre-Algebra. 🤭

I didn't, which is why I had to work out the transaction in terms of what change the waiter brings and what happens to it afterwards (same as scripting a rentbox, really, if it gives discounts when people pay more than so many weeks in advance).

Edited September 26, 2021 by Innula Zenovka

[Silent Mistwalker]

Just now, Innula Zenovka said:

I didn't, which is why I had to work out the transaction in terms of what change the waiter brings and what happens to it afterwards.

I never made it past the first 6 weeks of Pre-Algebra. LOL