The Missing Dollar

Three friends, sharing a single room in a remote sea-side resort, make an advance payment of $10 each. While they are checking out, the owner of the lodging house charges $25 and ask the room-attendant to give back the balance $5 to them. But the dishonest person, pockets $2 himself, and gives back $1 to each one of them. Now every one of the three friends had given $10 originally and gets back $1, thereby incurring an expense of $27. Adding this to $2, pocketed by room-attendant, does not tally with $30. Why? Where does the dollar disappear?


Answer:

Actually the dollar is not missing or lost. Only our thinking mind is 'lost'. Since the $27 contains $25 as rent and $2 as pocketed by room-attendant, where does the question of adding again $2 with $27 and expect it to become $30? Now the following equations will make you more clear: $25(rent) + $2(pocketed amount) + $3 (amount got back) = $ 30 $27(rent+ pocketed amount) + $ 2(pocketed amount) SHOULD NOT = to $30 as we are adding the pocketed amount 2 times. Hence the confusion. Got it?