Where is the extra pound ?

[shrimpermatt]

someone said this to me at collage today and its really annoying me, hopefully someone on here can give some kind of logical answer.

3 men stayed at a hotel and paid £75 for the night, £25 pound each. in the morning they go to check out and the receptionist says that she overcharged them by £5 and hands it back to them. Because they cant split £5 fairly between the 3 of them they all take £1 and leave the hotel £2 tip. With their pound back the men have all spent £24 pound each.
£24 x 3 = £72 + the £2 they left in tip is £74

so where is the extra pound ?

 

[SUFC_Al]

if they got given £5 back that means they spent £23.33 (70/3 = 23.33) each before getting the extra pound

that's the way I look at it

 

[J]

well they haven't.. the men spent 23.33** each as they left a tip of 2 pound...

 

[shrimpermatt]

but they hadnt spend 23.33 because they had spent £25 and took back one more pound each. which would be £24 ?

 

[SUFC_Al]

but they hadnt spend 23.33 because they had spent £25 and took back one more pound each. which would be £24 ?

they had spent £75, £25 each but then got £5 back, so they spent £70.

70/3 = 23.33

 

[Bluesmanager]

Well, strictly speaking it's 23.33recurring.

 

[Sussex Shrimper]

They all should have paid £23.33.

They all have paid £25.

The "missing pound" is a misnomer as the real discrepancy between what they each should have paid and what they did is £1.67, which breaks down to £1 for each man, and £0.67 from each combining to form the £2 tip.