A question has been doing rounds on social media.
“I borrowed $50 from mum and $50 from dad to buy a bag costing $97. After the purchase, I had $3 left. I returned $1 to Dad and $1 to Mum, and reserved $1 for myself. I now owe $49+$49=$98 plus the $1 I reserved for myself, which is $99. Where is the missing $1?” reads the question.
The missing dollar has intrigued several internet users.
While going forward with the calculation from the point where the kid borrowed the money one dollar is missing.
A
B
C
ANSWER:
The missing 1 is an error in the original problem statement. The correct amount owed is 98.
Calculate the total amount borrowed from Mum and Dad, which is
50 from Mum and 50 from Dad, giving a total of 50+50=100.
Subtract the amount I returned to Mum and Dad, which is 1 to Dad and 1 to Mum, giving a total of 1+1=2.
Subtract the amount I reserved for myself, which is 1, from the total amount borrowed.
Calculate the remaining debt by subtracting the returned amounts and the reserved amount from the total borrowed amount:
100-2-1=97.
However, there is a discrepancy in the original problem statement. The total debt should be 97 after the purchase, but it is stated that I owe 98 plus the 1 reserved, which totals 99
99. This suggests there is a mistake in the problem statement or the way the debt was calculated.
To reconcile the numbers, we should subtract the 1 reserved for me from the total debt of 97 which gives us 97-1=96. This is the correct amount owed after adjusting for the 1 reserved.
