How do you solve the $97 shirt riddle?

Mathematics teacher, Rachel Frasier, who had shared this question in 2019 on Twitter, explains: "There is no missing dollar! You started with $100 and spent $97. With the $3 left, you gave $1 to mom, $1 to dad, and kept $1. You owe them $98 but kept $1, which you can count towards what you owe them.

How to solve a riddle?

Read the Riddle Carefully Pay attention to the wording and look for clues or hints that could help you solve the riddle . Some riddles may use wordplay, puns, or metaphors that require some interpretation. Take note of the language used, and try to identify any double meanings or hidden messages.

Where is the missing dollar math problem?

The answer, of course, is that there is no "missing dollar." The method of calculating the total is simply flawed. The premise that adding each of the three guest's adjusted payment of $9, totaling $27, to the bellhop's pocketed $2 will give you the total sum of money paid is incorrect.

Can you solve the stolen money riddle?

Riddle Explained The man used that $100 to buy $70 worth of stuff, which means the shop owner had to provide $30 in change from the register to complete the transaction . So in the actual transaction, the shop owner gave back $70 in goods and $30 in cash.

How do you solve treasure hunt riddles?

First, decide where you want to hide your clue, then think up a way to describe that object or location . Many of these riddles rhyme, so after thinking up your item, you may want to find a pair of rhyming words that relate to the object, and write the clue from there.

you borrow $50 from mom and $50 from dad. you buy a shirt for $97 and get $3 change (2024)

Word Problems

Saida S.

asked 09/01/14

You borrow $50 from mom and $50 from dad. You buy a shirt for $97 and get back $3 in change. You give $1 back to mom and $1 back to dad. You keep $1 for yourself.

Now you owe each of your parents $49.

$49+$49=$98 You still have $1. $98+$1=$99.

What happened to the other dollar?

Follow 3

Comments 3

Report

Anonymous D.

No dollar is missing.

The 98 dollars = 97 shirt + 1 dollar you kept.

The 2 dollars = what you gave to your parents.

Report

02/28/16

Dima H.

100$ ur parents gave you, Buy shirt 97$. Left 3 bucks.

U owe mom 50. U pay Mom +1.

U owe dad 50. U pay dad +1.

U need $97 dollars to pay them off, so the +$2 and the +$1 =$100

Trick is you pay them 1 dollars each, so they need 49 more, that's 98 in all, 50-1=49 but you have to give back 97, not 98, so imagine no money is gone, you just have to 48.5+48.5=97 + 2 +1=$100!! Just $2 and $1 forget the $50-$1 stuff!

Its confusing you that there is $2 dollars, but there is $3!!

Report

01/24/18

2 Answers By Expert Tutors

By:

Diego H. answered 09/01/14

Tutor

New to Wyzant

"Come with me if you want to pass"

See tutors like this

50 + 50 = 100.

100 - 97 = 3.

3 - 1 - 1 = 1.

You owe each of your parents 49 dollars, but you shouldn't account for the 1 dollar you have.

2 * 49 = 98 + the two dollars you paid them. And 98 = 97 shirt + 1 dollar you kept.

See Also

What comes down but never goes up?

100 = 97 shirt + 1 dollar you kept + 2 dollars you paid parents

Upvote 3 Downvote

Comments 4

Report

Matthew B.

Are you going to just completely disregard the fact that you owe your parents $98 after paying them back $2 and the $1 in liquid assets you have remaining somehow add a dollar onto your debt? (98+1=99) for a tutor on this site I’d expect you to understand basic math and point out that flaw right away. Either that or the parents decided to teach their child how real debt works and charged a $1 interest fee therefor mitigating the $1 they had saved, but this is highly unlikely and you failed to mention that as well so it’s irrelevant. Basically your answer is extra af. You show us all this rudimentary math that would bore a 1st grader; thinking your teaching people older than 5 something useful while disregarding the issues with the math in the original question like it doesn’t exist.

Report

03/09/21

Danny P.

this also has absolutely nothing to do with accounting, so not sure why you're a try hard and approaching the question that way. the question is literally "where did the last dollar go?", not, "what's the bottom-line financial impact of my personal finances with outstanding debt and liabilities towards my parents". lmao mf lame

Report

03/15/21

Raul J C.

That's a trick question. Obviously if you give them 1 coin each and then you owe them 49 each you will need to produce not 49 coins but 48.50 to use the dollar you already have.

Report

05/25/22

Connor S.

I gave my values for this answer in terms of 2(value/2), simply because the kid has two parents to which they theoretically owe an equal amount of money.So in essence, 2($50) moves from parents to their kid. The kid spends 2($48.5) on the shirt and has 2($1.5) remaining. The kid decides to return 2($1), keeping 2($0.5) in their possession. This means that in total kid owes 2($48.5) + 2($0.5) = 2($49), and the kid's parents are still missing 2($49). Note that 2($49) = 2($49). So no, the dollar elf did not take any extra dollar into the dollar dimension. And no, one cannot use the same logic to describe where our missing socks go after we run them through the laundry ;(

Report

07/12/24

Arthur D. answered 09/01/14

Tutor

4.9 (225)

Mathematics Tutor With a Master's Degree In Mathematics

About this tutor›

If you borrow $100 and buy a shirt for $97, you get $3 back. If you gave your parents the $3 that you got back, then you would only owe them $97, but you only gave them back $2, so you owe them $98. You kept the other dollar. You should have given them that extra $1 so you would only owe them $97. In other words, you don't add the $1 to the $98 you owe your parents, you should give them the $1 and then subtract $1 from the $98 you owe them and you will now only owe them $97. When you gave them each $1, you subtracted $1 from $50 for each parent-that's how you got $49 !! Why would you want to add that leftover $1 to the $98 ? If you give them that $1, you subtract it from the $98 to get $97 which is what you owe for the cost of the shirt.

Upvote 2 Downvote

Comments 2

Reported

Matthew B.

Also why would you want that leftover $1 maybe he uses it to buy a container of Minute Maid lemonade and sells it at his lemonade stand for $15 at .5 a cup. That’s a good way to pay off debt and learn how capitalism works.

Report

03/09/21

Raul J C.

Is simple math.. you can do it the way the problem says.. but keeping that dollar is an ilusion cz you still have to produce the money. Even if you keep the dollar at the end you end up giving it back when you pay your debt of 49 dollars each. Let's say you kept that dollar. You only have to produce 48.50 for each.

Report

05/25/22

Still looking for help? Get the right answer, fast.

Ask a question for free

Get a free answer to a quick problem.
Most questions answered within 4 hours.

OR

Find an Online Tutor Now

Choose an expert and meet online. No packages or subscriptions, pay only for the time you need.

you borrow $50 from mom and $50 from dad. you buy a shirt for $97 and get $3 change (2024)

2 Answers By Expert Tutors

Still looking for help? Get the right answer, fast.

OR

FAQs

How do you solve the $97 shirt riddle? ›