![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flonnebonneMath-like riddle time!
Three women go into a hotel and ask for a room to share. The receptionist tells them it will cost 30,000 yen, so the women pay 10,000 yen each.
After the women have gone to their room, the receptionist suddenly remembers that the hotel has a winter special on right now, so the room should cost only 25,000 yen. He calls a bell-hop, gives him 5000 yen, and tells him to bring it to the customers.
However, on the way upstairs the bell-hop sneakily decides to pocket 2000 yen for himself. When he gets to the customers' room he gives them only 3000 yen. So each woman ends up getting 1000 yen back.
Let's think about this. Each customer originally paid 10,000 yen and got 1000 back, so they each paid 9000 yen. Additionally, the bell-hop took 2000 yen for himself.
9000 x 3 = 27,000.
27,000 + 2000 = 29,000.
But the three women originally paid 30,000 yen! Where did the extra 1000 yen go?
(This was a riddle from my Japanese class, which had nothing to do with Japanese and everything to do with our teacher wanting us to figure out the answer for her.)
Three women go into a hotel and ask for a room to share. The receptionist tells them it will cost 30,000 yen, so the women pay 10,000 yen each.
After the women have gone to their room, the receptionist suddenly remembers that the hotel has a winter special on right now, so the room should cost only 25,000 yen. He calls a bell-hop, gives him 5000 yen, and tells him to bring it to the customers.
However, on the way upstairs the bell-hop sneakily decides to pocket 2000 yen for himself. When he gets to the customers' room he gives them only 3000 yen. So each woman ends up getting 1000 yen back.
Let's think about this. Each customer originally paid 10,000 yen and got 1000 back, so they each paid 9000 yen. Additionally, the bell-hop took 2000 yen for himself.
9000 x 3 = 27,000.
27,000 + 2000 = 29,000.
But the three women originally paid 30,000 yen! Where did the extra 1000 yen go?
(This was a riddle from my Japanese class, which had nothing to do with Japanese and everything to do with our teacher wanting us to figure out the answer for her.)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-03-13 09:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-14 11:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-13 11:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-14 11:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-13 11:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-14 11:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-14 01:11 am (UTC)FINALLY, someone other than me who didn't get it.
Date: 2010-03-14 10:55 pm (UTC)There was an error made in the calculation of the prices; it shouldn't add up to the OLD room prices, but the NEW room prices.
Yes, they paid 9000 equally, but the new numbers should have added up to the NEW cost of the room. (Man, that sounded weird to me, but XD)
Look at it this way:
3 x 9000 (what the women paid after the refund) = 27000
But what they *really* should have paid, with the new deal = 25000
The bellhop took 2000, which is the difference between the 27000 and the 25000.
In conclusion, the money didn't go anywhere (well, besides the bellhop's pocket).
The error is in the fact that people expected the 9000 to go towards the old room price ... but the fact is, that number isn't valid anymore. The reason they GOT back the 1000 (after the cheating bellhop) WAS that the price had switched to 25000, right? XD
Otherwise, they wouldn't have gotten any of the money back at all.
Re: FINALLY, someone other than me who didn't get it.
Date: 2010-03-15 12:14 am (UTC)...Okay, and now that I've thought about it a while it does make sense. LOL?
Re: FINALLY, someone other than me who didn't get it.
Date: 2010-03-15 06:31 am (UTC)It's more of an "uh, yeah" kind of riddle than an "ah ha!" one, I guess.
Deleted the comment ... XD
Date: 2010-03-14 02:43 am (UTC)-muri
Re: Deleted the comment ... XD
Date: 2010-03-14 10:59 pm (UTC)