Impossible Logic Question

A friend presented me with an extremely hard logic question which has been bugging me the entire day. Someone please solve it!

• 3 guys need to buy bread, they pay 1 dollar each.
• In total there is now 3 dollars, and a fourth guy (hasn't paid) goes out to buy it.
• The bread only costs $2.5, meaning 50 cents are spare. The fourth guy decides 50 cents can't be split between 3, so he decides to keep 20 cents and pays back each of the three other guys 10 cents.
• The 3 guys have now actually paid 90 cents each. So, 3x90 = 270 cents. 270 + 20(what the fourth guy kept) = 290.
• Where has 10 cents disappeared?

Guys actually paid

$3.00 - .20 cents to fourth guy = $2.80

$2.80 /3 = .93 1/3 cents

So each guy paid 93 and 1/3 cents.

The 3 guys have now actually paid 90 cents each. So, 3x90 = 270 cents.
The fourth guy kept 20 cents because the bread only costs 250cents.
20+250=270 -> that's what the three had paid.
No 10 cent for me left


The 3 guys have now actually paid 90 cents each. So, 3x90 = 270 cents. 270 + 20(what the fourth guy keeped) = 290 .... that's nonsense.

3x90(what the three paid for the bread)-20(fourth man)-250(Bread)=0

Originally Posted by zepperdude

Guys actually paid

$3.00 - .20 cents to fourth guy = $2.80

$2.80 /3 = .93 1/3 cents

So each guy paid 93 and 1/3 cents.

If each guy paid 93 and 1/3 cents to the total cause (bread and transaction), then how come each one has 10 cents left? (Each started with 10 dimes, and each now has 1 dime to their name)


Here is my explanation:
Each paid 8.33 for the bread. 83.3 cents x 3 = 2.50
Each paid .66 for the transaction. 6.6 cents x 3 = .20

So $2.70 was the price for the ENTIRE transaction - not for the bread. The riddle says that $2.70 was paid for the bread and that $0.20 was paid to the 4th guy. This is mis-direction. $2.50 went to the bread, and $0.20 went to the 4th guy. Add those together, you get $2.70. The .20 is ALREADY factored into the equation.

So, in the end, each paid $0.90 for the ENTIRE transaction. This is not a mathematical anomoly. This is mis-direction in the wording of the riddle.

Thanks liquidsense, makes sense now. I didn't realized 0.20 was already factored into the equation.

Originally Posted by PeterHamburg

3x90(what the three paid for the bread)-20(fourth man)-250(Bread)=0

Thats the simple correct answer imo

Awesome logic question...

Yeah - I knew that - like wot he said.... (I think) ;-P

yeah, that's the +/- problem
<<270 + 20(what the fourth guy kept) = 290.>> WRONG. 270 - 20 (for the 4th guy. If you have to pay something you can't add it to your money, you have to subtract it)

3x0,90= 2,70
Bread= 2,50
Money left: 0,20
4th guy took 0,20
Money: 0,00

The mistake is, that you calculate with an entire price of 3,00, but that's wrong! The 3 guys only pay for bread (2,50) and the 0,20 for their friend. So it's 2,70 (3x0,90).

If you want to solve it with the 3,00:
4th guy has 3,00
pays 2,50 for bread
money left: 0,50
4th guy takes 0,20
money left: 0,30
each of the 3 guys get 0,10
Money left: 0,00

2,50$ / 3guys = 0,833333
+10 ct = 0,9333333
0,9333333ct * 3= 2,8$
+20ct for the fourth guy = 3$

Whichever one is correct, doesn't matter. Just don't send an outsider to buy bread in case they steal your money!

yep, so there was no extra 10 cents

Originally Posted by PeterHamburg

The 3 guys have now actually paid 90 cents each. So, 3x90 = 270 cents.
The fourth guy kept 20 cents because the bread only costs 250cents.
20+250=270 -> that's what the three had paid.
No 10 cent for me left


The 3 guys have now actually paid 90 cents each. So, 3x90 = 270 cents. 270 + 20(what the fourth guy keeped) = 290 .... that's nonsense.

3x90(what the three paid for the bread)-20(fourth man)-250(Bread)=0

your view helped me realize the simplest answer to this.

-----------------
they each paid $0.90 because they each received $0.10 at the end of the transaction.

3 x $0.90 = $2.70
$2.70 = $2.50-bread + $0.20-4th man
$2.70 + ($0.10 x 3) = $3.00

the $0.20 took by the 4th man was part of the $2.70 they paid.
there ISN'T and extra $0.10
think of the 4th man as a driver for them, taking $0.20 for the gas