Rotary Club of Kowloon Golden Mile
presents the mystery of

The Missing Dollar


Three friends are out shopping and decide to jointly buy a TV.

The TV set they choose has a price tag of $30, so they each contribute $10. The salesman gladly takes the money and then the three friends leave the shop and head home.

In the meantime the shop manager returns from lunch and notices the TV has been sold. 

He asks the salesman what price he charged, and is told $30. He then tells the salesman that the TV was actually reduced to $25, gives him $5 and tells him to return the money to the three friends.

The salesman sets off down the street to return the money, however on the way decides to only give the friends $1 each and keep the remaining $2 for himself. He finds them and gives each of the three friends $1.

Now the problem ...........

Each of the three friends originally put in $10 towards the TV (i.e. $30.) The salesman returned $1 to each of them, which means that the three friends ended up spending $9 each.

That equates to a total cost of $27 (i.e. 3 x $9 = $27).

The salesman kept $2 for himself.

That makes a total of $29 ($27 + $2).

What happened to the other $1?

Work that one out !


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