help with maths riddle!

[gabetheunicycleman]

three men go to a coffee shop and order some coffees and pastries. the bill comes to $30. each man gives $10 to the waiter who takes it to the cashier. the cashier tells him that they've been overcharged and to take back $5. on the way to the table the waiter realises that the 3 men dont know that theyve been overcharged so the waiter keeps $2 for himself and gives $3 back to the men.
so essentially each man has paid $9. so 9x3=27. add the waiters $2 and you have $29. wheres the extra dollar?

[ivan]

Meh.

Each man paid $10. That's $30 all. Then each man received $1 change, that's $3 all. That means they all paid $27 between them, including the waiter's self-granted tips. Which means each one paid $9.

[wickedbob]

three men go to a coffee shop and order some coffees and pastries. the bill comes to $30. each man gives $10 to the waiter who takes it to the cashier. the cashier tells him that they've been overcharged and to take back $5. on the way to the table the waiter realises that the 3 men dont know that theyve been overcharged so the waiter keeps $2 for himself and gives $3 back to the men.
so essentially each man has paid $9. so 9x3=27. add the waiters $2 and you have $29. wheres the extra dollar?

Each man paid 10 meaning 30, the waiter was told to take 5 back, but kept 2 for himself have gave them 3. There is no missing dollar.

30-5=25 waiter took 2 gave 3 back equaling 5 and that to 25 and you get the original price of 10$ each.

[mr_charm]

you're not ment to add the 2 dollars to 27, rather you take them away to get 25, the price they were ment to pay
understand?

[thejdw]

There is not missing dollar

[Sprida]

So they all paid the $30, then you minus the $5 they were over payed (30-5=25). From there you divide $25 by the 3 ppl which is $8.33. So they actually payed $8.33 each, then the waiter gives them back the $1 each so they have now payed $9.33 each. so $9.33 times the three people makes $28 plus the $2 the waiter has makes $30. There is no missing dollar.

[harper]

I've always liked this illusion. The cashier received $25. The waiter received $2. The total received was $27. Each customer paid $10 and each received $1 in change therefore each customer paid $9. $27 was paid and $27 was received and no one was deceived.

[Bondo]

But what if the coffee shop was on a treadmill...

Would the plane still take off with the missing dollar??

[hobo_chuck]

three men go to a coffee shop and order some coffees and pastries. the bill comes to $30. each man gives $10 to the waiter who takes it to the cashier. the cashier tells him that they've been overcharged and to take back $5. on the way to the table the waiter realises that the 3 men dont know that theyve been overcharged so the waiter keeps $2 for himself and gives $3 back to the men.
so essentially each man has paid $9. so 9x3=27. add the waiters $2 and you have $29. wheres the extra dollar?
ive heard that before...somone was calling it a "hole in math", you know, what works one way doesn't work the other.....obviously, nothing will work in math if you do it incorrectly

[monkeyman]

But what if the coffee shop was on a treadmill...

Would the plane still take off with the missing dollar??
Hahahaha ok thread over, Bondo wins.

[Mikefule]

That's a clever bit of misdirection.

Each man has paid $9.

$9 x 3 = $27.

Plus the dollar each they got back = $30.

The $2 that went to the waiter is part of the $9 each they paid. They just didn't realise they'd paid it to the waiter rather than the restaurant.

Very cleverly done.

[gabetheunicycleman]

yeah, your supposed to minus the two. my maths teacher allways says "dont lose any sleep over it." i never thought i would until i heard this fo the first time. it was like 11:00 at night and i was on the brink of calling him..........i like stories.:)

[UniBrier]

OK, who looked up the answer (http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?p=641382)?

[mr_charm]

not i:p

[maestro8]

But what if the coffee shop was on a treadmill...
Would the plane still take off with the missing dollar??
Only if a tree falling in the woods proclaims "this sentence is false".

[gkmac]

I knew the answer, because I've seen something similar before.

The real puzzle is why the customers were overcharged in the first place. If the cashier or waiter did their jobs properly we wouldn't have any of this mess.

[SAVAGE]

I KNOW THE ANSWER!!!!2+2=6!!!!!
I'm a genius!!!!