~~Help With A Math Problem~~

[jaymor8]

Help me with this folks.....

3 men go to a motel

the motel clerk charges them $30 for the room

Each man gives $10

A little later. The motel clerk realizes she charged $5 too much for the room.

She summoned the concierge and sent him with $5 to refund the 3 men

While going there, he was wondering how to divide 5 into 3

He decided to give them back $1 each and keep $2 for himself

So each man gave $9 for the room.

3 times $9 equal $27.

Add the $2 that the concierge kept.

The total is $29 .

Where is the other $1

[amberwoodottawa]

You are caught up in "ADDING" back the $2 for the concierge. You should be subtracting as you are trying to compare apples and oranges.

The best way is set it up like an accountant with debits and credits. By adding back the concierge's take to what the 3 men paid, you have made an accounting mistake.


On the credit side you start with $30 (being the Hotel) on the debit side yu have 3 X $10 being what the 3 men paid. You then debit the credit side by $5 being the refund and record a credit of $5 (3X $1 plus $2) to the debit side.

It sounds difficult and confusing but most ac counting is.
Malcolm

Malcolm

[muminlaw]

Malcolm

"It sounds difficult and confusing but most ac counting is.'

You got that right!!!!!

Glenda

[amberwoodottawa]

Jackie
lets try to look at it a different way:

THIS IS THE ACTUAL OUTCOME
The room costs $25.00
The men paid $27.00
The concierge pocketed the other $2.00

Trying to put it in your scenario:
3 men go to a motel

the motel clerk charges them $30 for the room

Each man gives $10

A little later. The motel clerk realizes she charged $5 too much for the room.

She summoned the concierge and sent him with $5 to refund the 3 men

While going there, he was wondering how to divide 5 into 3

He decided to give them back $1 each and keep $2 for himself

So each man gave $9 for the room.

3 times $9 equal $27.

LESS the $2 the concierge took and that equals $25.

Jackie, its all a matter of perspective.
Malcolm

[amberwoodottawa]

Jackie
The $1 difference that you came up with is the difference between the $3 given back to the 3 men and the $2 the concierge took.

That is where you made the accounting mistake in adding back when you should have been subtracting to arrive at the $25.

Malcolm

[jaymor8]

Malcolm - doesn't it concern you that this cheesy motel has a concierge??

I thank you sir for that explanation. I would have never gotten it myself.

Much much obliged!!!!

Jackie...

[amberwoodottawa]

I've stayed at that Cheesy Motel but when I was there rooms were only $8.95.

Actually I used to live in Nevada in the mid 1970s (Oh Oh starting to reveal age here) and I sometimes stayed at Motel 6. The cost was $6.95 per night and an extra $0.50 if you wanted a TV.

The rooms were clean and comfortable. Started by a truck driver who was tired of flea bitten rooms costing too much when he travelled so he gave up trucking and started the chain. I believe at one time that they had over 250 properties in the South West.

Malcolm

[jaymor8]

Malcolm - we are talking the whole night here...right? Yep I know the Motel 6. Stayed in them when we travelled the Pacific Coast down to San Francisco. Makes for good economics when travelling on a budget!

Jackie...

[muminlaw]

Malcolm, I think we stayed in that motel the first time we went to Vegas! A couple of blocks off The Strip, wasn't it? It was the late '60s and they actually charged $6 per night. Clean and reasonably comfortable, but certainly no extras! (Like you need extras in Vegas!!)

Glenda

PS -- Haven't been back to Vegas since! Life and business is a big enough gamble!!!!

[amberwoodottawa]

Sorry guys I went to bed at 10pm (tired from visiting hospital to see my mother, she underwent a big procedure yesterday and came through 100%)

The Motel 6s were all over the Southwest. I used to live in Reno, Nevada (for about 8 months) and for 3 months I sold Electrolux vacuums door to door.

I travelled through Nevada, Oregon, Utah and California so I got to know every little town and just about every Motel 6 as well as some other lesser known motels.

Oh the travelling salesman stories that I could tell. I always got invited in to show the vacuums as here was this clean cut, Canadian dressed in a 3-piece bankers suit in 110F temperatures standing at the front door of someone's trailer park home (sometimes a Hell's Angel's).

Glenda, I was back in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. Simply magnificent. I really miss the desert.

Funny thing, when I lived in Vancouver I had a sailboat and then moved to landlocked Nevada. Now that I am back sailing here with a new boat, I want to return to the desert again.

Malcolm