Question

Three men in a cafe order a meal the total cost of which is $15. they each contribute $5. the waiter takes the money to the chef who recognizes the three as friends and asks the waiter to return $5 to the men.



the waiter is not only poor at mathematics but dishonest and instead of going to the trouble of splitting the $5 between the three he simply gives them $1 each and pockets the remaining $2 for himself.



now, each of the men effectively paid $4, the total paid is therefore $12. add the $2 in the waiters pocket and this comes to $14.....where has the other $1 gone from the original $15?

Answer 1

The condition is total amount should equal the persons.

so no need to add paid amount and waiter received amount

The initial bill = $15

change one of the five dollar notes into five ones.

The total the three men paid is = $12 because they get three ones back.

So from the $12, the three men paid $10 and the waiter received $2.

there fore
$15 - $3 = $10 + $2