Impossible Math Problem
 

Three men check into a hotel room. The price is 30 dollars. They pay 10 dollars each and go to their room.

But wait, the clerk remembers that the weekday rate is 25 dollars--he overcharged them by 5 dollars! So, off he goes to refund the 5 dollars. But...he can't figure out how to divide 5 dollars evenly between the three people, so... he gives them back 1 dollar each, and pockets the other 2 dollars.

Now each man has paid 10 dollars, and has been refunded 1 dollar.

So, each man has paid 9 dollars. 9 times 3 = 27.

The clerk pocketed 2 dollars. 27 plus 2 = 29.

But...they originally paid 30 dollars.
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What happened to the other dollar?

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It's not 27 + 2, it's 27 - 2 = 25.

I once impressed a date by knowing the answer to this.
I dissimulated of course, pretending to work it out there and then.
In fact it had been an ice breaker on a training course I attended.

Silly thing is, the chap I was hell-bent on trying to impress was probably just trying to get into my knickers anyway - we could easily have dispensed with the posturing.

er . . . each man hasn't paid 9 dollars. Each man paid 10 dollars less 1/3 of 5 dollars, which isn't the amount that was refunded to them. Just because the clerk can't do math, doesn't mean there's a "disappearing" dollar.

of course, I'm crap at math, so this could be completely wrong.

the dollar took off from the treadmill in the aeroplane

Not wanting to split hairs, given that yours was probably a joking response, but I think the real answer is that Bono had it in his pocket.

No, the dollar can't take off because the clerk is running the exact same speed in the opposite direction.

and what were the three men doing in the hotel room in the first place, hmm?

You know, that's a really good question. And what kind of place rents one room to three dudes?

the kind of place where the clerks can't divide worth shit?

The kind of place that has rooms for $30.

PER HOUR

There probably was some shit being divided because we know they weren't in there to multiply.

:facepalm:

If two men can dig two holes in two hours
and three men can dig three holes in three hours
The how long does it take one man to dig half a hole?