12. 3 Ladies Went to a Tv Shop and Bought a Tv for £30
3 ladies went to a tv shop and bought a tv for £30 from a salesman. each one payed £10 each. boss says give £5 back. salesman puts £2 in his pocket and give £1 each back to the ladies. women have payed £9 each now, £9 £18 £27. salesman have put £2 in his pocket £29. Where is the other £1?
Submitted by tartle · Added 29 November 2010 · Updated 2 July 2026
Solution:
The confusion arises from the incorrect addition of amounts. The ladies initially paid £30, and after receiving £3 back, they effectively paid £27 for the TV. Out of this £27, £25 went to the shop and £2 went to the salesman. The error in reasoning comes from trying to add the £2 in the salesman's pocket to the £27, which already includes that amount. Therefore, there is no missing £1; the £27 accounts for both the £25 and the £2.
Comments (1)
You are adding what the ladies paid as actual money. They now are down 9 each - for a total of -27. Add to this the 2 in the salesman's pocket, and you have -25 which balances out with what is in the bosses pocket.
The problem here is that you are adding positive amounts to negative amounts and ignoring the sign.
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