CAN YOU FIGURE OUT THIS RIDDLE?????

[Peter Vincent]

I must admit I am stumped...

Two people arrive at a hotel for a room. The innkeeper states that there is only 1 room available so they will have to split it. The room is $30 so they are both charged $15 a piece. The innkeeper feels bad so he decides to give back $5. He gives it to the bellhop to return it. The bellhop has no change so he decides to give them both back $1 and keep $3 for himself. So each person now has paid $14 for the room. So together they have paid $28, plus the bellhop has $3. This adds up to $31 How is this possible...

 

[Gavin Allan]

What's so hard?



The innkeeper has $25.



Each guest has $1



The bellhop has $3

 

[Dan Miller 3]

As soon as the innkeeper gave the bellhop $5...each person only paid $12.50 for the room. The bellhop gives each person $1 so they actually paid $13.50 each.



$13.50 + $13.50 = $27.00



$27.00 + $3 (for the bellhop) = $30



Dan

 

[Peter Vincent]

EACH PAID 14 THAT IS 28. PLUS 3 IS 31

 

[Keith Lewis]

The room is 30...minus 5 is 25, bell hop gives 2 back, so 27, not 28 for the room Gotta take the 5 off before you split it up...it's all a matter of when to take what off of where



If you want to break it up, 15 each, minus 2.50 is 12.50, bellhop gives 1 for a total of 13.50, times 2 is 27.

 

[jason nguyen]

The bellhop has no change for a five, but he has two $1 bills. Therefore,



1. the innkeeper keeps $25 and returns a five dollar bill

2. the bellhop keeps the 5 dollar bill, but dispenses his own 1 dollar bills and,

3. each tenant is only charged $14



Jason

 

[Dana Harrington]

It is a mathmatic mystery, if you do it backwards it will always come out 1 dollar short, but if you do it forwards it will equal out. I used to give those types of riddles to my nephews when they were growning up. They would spend hours trying to figure them out.

 

[Keith Lewis]

It's not a mystery, it's forced misleading with extra info that is not needed

 

[Bill V]

Adding $28 plus $3 is meaningless. The $3 is already included in the $28--which is the $25 that the innkeeper has, plus the $3 that the bellhop has.



And Dan's and Daeron's answers are no closer to being correct than the "riddle" 's original psuedo-math. No one ever pays $13.50, and no total ever comes to $13.50. They each paid $15 originally, they each should have gotten $2.50 back (for a net payment of $12.50), but they each actually only got $1.00 back (for a net payment of $14). Of that $14, $12.50 went to the hotel, and $1.50 went to the bellhop.



Dana, there's no mystery--it's plain, simple, mathematical common sense.



The lack of basic, simply mathematical understanding in this country never ceases to amaze and disappoint me.

 

[Nelson Atwell]

That's one reason I use credit cards. :lol:

 

[walter clark]

TAXES

 

[Fred]

It's Bush's fault. :lol:

 

[Pat Freeman]

Damn liberal bellhops!

 

[Michael Fazzina]

I say we blame Canada. lol.

 

[Bill Ellis]

A train leaves NY head to Chicago at 1:00 PM local time and it travels at 80 mph. At 2:15 PM a train leaves Chicago headed to pittsburgh traveling at 75 mph. Bob is going to NY from LA flying American Airlines. When does Bob look out the window and see the two trains pass each other somewhere in Ohio?

 

[Tony Tassillo]

first off the two trains will never pass eachother. the first on left 1 hr and 15 mins before and is traveling 5 mph faster so there for they wont pass eachother. and second who the FU@# is BOB

 

[Jake Levin]

If a plane crashes on the US-Canada border, where do you bury the survivors?

 

[Bill Ellis]

Tony, did you do very well with word problems in school? The trains are going in opposite directions and will pass one another somewhere in Ohio. That's when Bob is supposed to see them. It's a given condition in the problem. Now we'll assume that it's not cloudy and that Bob can see the ground and the trains. It's a simple problem Get witht he program here...OK. You're whole future as a scientist just might hinge on your answer to this problem. Oh...you're not a scientist....never mind.

 

[Bill V]

OK, here's one I posed on this board quite a while ago, that lots of people got wrong, and argued adamently (and incorrectly) that they were right--there are lots of new people on this board since then, so let's see if people can figure out the answer...



You are on a "Let's Make a Deal"-type game show. There are three doors that you must choose from. One has a million dollars behind it, and the other two have goats. You pick a door to be yours. The host then opens one of the other doors, and reveals the goat behind it. (The host knows which door has the million dollars, and never opens that door. He will always need to choose between the two doors you didn't select, and if one of them has the million dollars, he will always open the other one.) The host then makes you an offer--you can stick with your original door, or you can switch to the other unopened door.



What gives you the best chance of winning--switching to the other door, or staying with your original door? Or are your odds the same regardless of whether you change or not?

 

[Mark Grumpy]

Odds are the same. Host will always open a goat leaving 50/50



You originally had a 1 in 3. That has not actually changed but your original odds are reduced to 1 in 2 (I guess that's actually an increase for you). Changing is a 1 in 2. So AFTER host opens a goat, odds are 1 in 2 change or not.