# 3 men walk into a pizzaria... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 16, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-men-walk-into-a-pizzaria/322025 "2005-09-16T19:45:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morphia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Morphia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morphia)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-men-walk-into-a-pizzaria/322025/1 "2005-09-16T19:45:16Z")
Ok. I found this at another message board. I am willing to admit that there is a good possibility that I am just a dolt and the answer is right in front of my face but I can’t seem to find it. I haven’t changed anything about this post (even the spelling ::shudder::. That was hard for me to ignore) just incase there are any mess ups in the equation that I’m missing. You can be honest. Am I totally oblivious or is this really as mind bending as it seems to be for me? "“The Missing Dollar” Three man walk into a Pizzaria and order a Large Pizza each. Large pizzas sell for $10 here. So the men men each pay their $10 for their pizzas. thats $30 in total. The three men go and sit down and the waiter goes to put their sale through the register. The boss stops him and reminds the waiter that they are having a special on three pizzas at the moment. Three large Pizzas for $25. So he tells the waiter to give the men $5 change. The waiter realises that $5 can’t be split three ways so he decides to only give them $3 change and keep the other $2. He gives each man $1 and puts the other $2 in his Pocket. What am I talking about here? Well lets add it all up now. The three men Spent $10 each ($30), but got a dollar back. So they spent $9 each ($27). And the Waiter pocketed $2. $27 + $2 = $29 Wheres the other dollar gone? Again? They spend $30 They should get $5 change, but only get $3 and the Waiter takes $2. Meaning they only spent $27 and the Waiter has $2. It only equals $29 It’s a paradox found in mathematics. I’m not sure what this means but usually when they find a paradox within a scientific theory they later find many othe flaws in the same theory. What does everyone think?" ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-men-walk-into-a-pizzaria/322025/2 "2005-09-16T19:49:37Z")
[The missing dollar explained](http://www.naute.com/puzzles/puzzle1.phtml). ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-men-walk-into-a-pizzaria/322025/3 "2005-09-16T19:53:04Z")
This is an ancient brain teaser; it is usually told with three guests sharing a room at a hotel, and the bellhop pocketing the extra two bucks. The best way to attack this is to see where the actual currency is. The cash register initially got $30, but then five dollars was removed, leaving $25 in the register. The five bucks is divided $1 for each purchaser and $2 for the waiter. ll the actual cash is accounted for The paradox in the problem as stated is that the teller is slyly equating dollars paid ($27) with dollars held (the waiter’s $2). The key is realizing the men may have paid a net of $27, but two of these dollars actually went to the waiter; the other $25 are still in the register. ---
**Author:** ![Dolukhanova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c68b51/32.png) [@Dolukhanova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dolukhanova)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-men-walk-into-a-pizzaria/322025/4 "2005-09-16T19:54:25Z")
It hasn’t gone anywhere. Initially, they spent 30, but they got 3 back – so they actually spent 27. 25 of that went to the pizza place, and 2 to the waiter. ---
**Author:** ![Kargokultti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Kargokultti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kargokultti)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-men-walk-into-a-pizzaria/322025/5 "2005-09-16T19:56:13Z")
restaurant gets 30 men should get 5 back waiter takes 5 dollars from the 30, gives men only 3, keeps 2 for himself = men pay 2 dollars extra, that 2 dollars going into the waiters pocket, but restaurant gets 25 as it should. I fail to see the paradox. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-men-walk-into-a-pizzaria/322025/6 "2005-09-16T20:08:03Z")
> [@Morphia](#): > > …It’s a paradox found in mathematics. > > …What does everyone think? I think it’s not a paradox. It’s just a shell game with words. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-men-walk-into-a-pizzaria/322025/7 "2005-09-16T20:12:12Z")
Just in case it’s still not clear, I might as well throw in one more explanation – basically the same, phrased slightly differently. > [@Morphia](#): > > The three men Spent $10 each ($30), but got a dollar back. So they spent $9 each ($27). And the Waiter pocketed $2. > > $27 + $2 = $29 > Wheres the other dollar gone? First of all, the $2 received by the waiter is _included_ in the $27 the men spent. They gave $30, they got back $3, and 2 _of the remaining $27 dollars_ were kept by the waiter (with the other 25 being kept by the pizza place.) So really, the only question you could ask was “Where are the other _three_ dollars.” (Again, you can’t add the $2 to the $27 because the $2 were included in the $27). The answer: The other three dollars were given back to the three men. ---
**Author:** ![Morphia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Morphia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morphia)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-men-walk-into-a-pizzaria/322025/8 "2005-09-16T20:15:12Z")
I didn’t think it was a paradox either. I just figured there was some way I wasn’t perceiving it or something that I was missing that was inhibiting my brain from getting a firm grasp on it. Thanks guys! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-men-walk-into-a-pizzaria/322025/9 "2005-09-16T20:31:58Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > [The missing dollar explained](http://www.naute.com/puzzles/puzzle1.phtml). Better yet: [The missing dollar explained by Cecil](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a910621.html). ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-men-walk-into-a-pizzaria/322025/10 "2005-09-16T20:40:04Z")
**[… Meaning they only spent $27 and the Waiter has $2.]** Actually, everything is fine up to here. So the three men spent $27, with $25 in the cash register and $2 in the waiter’s pocket. **[… It only equals $29]** A meaningless sum.