The Missing Dollar Riddle
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- čas přidán 7. 06. 2024
- Kevin explores the math and mystery behind a classic riddle that just… doesn’t make sense. Three friends go out to lunch and split a $30 bill evenly. Each pays ten bucks. Then the waitress realizes the bill should’ve been only $25.
She gives the busboy a $5 refund, but he can’t figure out how to evenly divide five dollars three ways. The customers don’t even know they’ve been overcharged, so he just takes a $2 tip for himself and hands the three customers one dollar each.
If the customers only paid $9 each for lunch and the busboy pocketed $2, where is the missing dollar?!?
Walkingame’s Tutor’s Assistant: archive.org/details/walkingam...
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Kevin:how does a dollar dissapear
Me:frickin taxes
Tommy Marco r/woooosh
*Laughs in credit fraud*
Oh, but you have police, fire and paved roads. poor you.
magically 6 dollars disappears in the 2nd one. you have $20 busboy takes 2 making it $18
divide that by 3 and you get back 6 dollars each $4 and $6 are the same to this guy
@@andrewmorrison3316$30 -$5 = $30 -$2 -$3 = $25, what missing dollar?
When I looked at the chart at first I was confused cuz I thought Bill was one of the friends. 😂
Bill is that greedy friend that took $25 from you and your other 2 friends!
I thought I was the only one. ._.
Yo the bill is not a friend but the so believed friend
Same
Hey Vsause4
Im bill. No?
*Y E S .*
“You just lost a dollar”
Bold of you to assume I have a dollar
So you are poor?
@@xCrysT4L1 or you just live somewhere where you don't pay with Dollars. For example... all of Europe
Lol yes
Bfb_Pencil battle for bfdi
No no no *Bold*
>its hard because it bombards you with numbers
> *2 minutes later, Kevin proceeds to bombard you with numbers*
SamPat yes, and for no reason. All he needed to fix the equation in the answer was to switch the sign of the 2 from plus to minus. 9+9+9-2= 25 (the cost of the meal). Done.
Gunnar Thiessen But the point is to explain why the mistake happens in the first place. Just fixing that sign doesn’t do that.
"You just lost a dollar"
My bank account x100
For me it's more like "You just lost a dollar"
Wait, I had a dollar?
no u
American banking system in a nutshell.
Aaaand it's gone.
kremit the frog more like x1000000
EA:
You just lost a dollar.
*Want us to get that back for 5.99 Dollars?*
Yuarkok 5.99 dollar? You means dollars 😂
@@cameronmeetze8153 you mean "you mean 5 dollars"
@@yuarkok6273 you mean "you mean" "you mean 6 dollars?"
@Muhsin Mohammed you mean 10 loot boxes with a chance of getting a dollar back for a dollar each go
@nekroneko you mean “Everybody is now confusion”
I told my students this riddle and it almost started a classroom riot. It was hilarious.
My teacher bet us 200 pounds for whoever solves it. It took me a week but I did solve it but he refused to give me it >:(
@@CaramelliousDa1 he was a busboy, I knew it!
So the dude overcharged you and took an extra $2 for himself? The real riddle is why isn’t he fired yet
The server overcharged you. The busboy simply took advantage of that info.
Vsauce: Micheal
Vsauce 2: Kevin
Vsauce 3: Jake
Vsauce 4: Bill
Vsauce 5: Tip
Vsauce 6: Busboy
VSauce 7 Dr Santachrist the rednosed dollar thief
Vsauce 8 hobo man
@@ody5199 you get a dollar $
Vsauce Aleph Nol 9:Saddam Hussein
Vsauce 69: Josephi Krakowski
Vsauce4 is coming. Vsauce, Bill here.
Dont forget Vsauce5. Vsauce, Tip here.
Hey vsauce, coyote Peterson here
Hey Bill, what's the damage?
@@mateosebastiancampos7475 Vsauce6, hey vsauce, bus boy here.
Vsauce5: Vsauce. Tip here.
"I dunno how to divide 5 dollars between them, so i'll take 2 dollars"
Brilliant
Teacher: the test isn't even that confusing!
The test:
Lol common core is literally this riddle
I like to explain this riddle a little differently.
Simply, when you perform the mathematical slight of hand of 9+9+9+2, you’re fooling the listener into believing that he must solve for the original $30 that you paid, but this is wrong.
What you actually are solving for is 9+9+9-2 which is equal to 25.
Once the refund happens, the fact that you paid 30 before is now obsolete information, but the riddle pretends it’s still important.
That’s why it works best with 30 because by just changing the sign, you can get a fake result that is one off the original.
9+9+9+2=29, unless I'm misunderstanding what you're saying.
Tommy Ellis Yes, that’s 29, and not 30 because it’s the wrong equation. Instead of +2, the correct math is to -2. And instead of expecting 30 as your answer (deception), you should be expecting 25.
@@onredj4326 oh, I misread what you said. You did say "-2." my bad!
That's what I was thinking and then he began to confuse me by switching the numbers around
AHHH THIS IS EVEN MORE CONFUSING 😱
I did this experiment physically and magically lost 1 dollar. Thanks Vsauce 😢
Well I did it with 30,000,000 dollars, and the BusBoy took $2,000,000, so I lost 1,000,000 dollars!
@smitshilpatul314 Are you implying that there's a trick that gets you more chocolate? You have my attention.
6:06
Kevin: There is no missing dollar.
The missing dollar to the side: *sweating profusely*
Lol
You michel and jake are at a restaurant.
* Writes you Michel and jake on the table *
* writes Bill *
Me: WHO IS BILL!!
It's THE Bill not a person named Bill.
Does that help?
Coding Ant IK
Guys, at first he thought that there was a person names Bill...
Easy on the guy
@@neoupath8823 r/ihavereddit to you too. Using r/ihavereddit outside of reddit is contradicting so don't use it just say "this isn't reddit".
Blitz Gaming r/wooooshception
"Your abilities with numerical cognition are actually pretty good"
that's not what my grades say...
teach yourself. School is for brainwashing not for teaching you numerical cognition.
True story school is only useful for jobs not education teach yourself but still go to school
@@darkmario720 yeah only go to school for your "achievements" like your diploma and such because businesses like that :)
teachers: teach you how to square root a negative number with imaginary numbers
student: how will we use this?
teacher: *visible confusion*
@@silviafox78 would you rather not even have the opportunities for education like people in some countries
Me an intellectual: well it's pretty obvious. There's some random 4th dude called Bill.
BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY
Bill (the chad): stole the dollar and yo' girl.
@@JNCressey I nearly choked on my drink
And Tip. Only pays 2 dollars
g
Your boss explaining why taking that $2 tip was a bad choice:
I remember my friend bringing up the question back in high school (2008). I was able to solve and tell him the problem was in how it was phrased. He never agreed. I just sent him this video (14 years later), with the quote "I was right". 🤣
You and your friends Michael, Jake, and Bill
Nate Punzalan don’t forget tip
@@alexwang982 who's tip
@@christiangomez1550 The 5th column
Don't forget Buck
Hmph, as I had friends...
,, YOU Just lost a Dollar'' -
Jokes on YOU Im from Europe, I DONT use Dollars!
Then the title would be "The Missing "insert all currencies here" Riddle"
You also don't use memes
Dimityr: Am i a joke to you?
Better joke is that ya'll don't tip.
A 'Euro' is actually, to give it it's full name, a European Dollar, so there's a good chance you do in fact use Dollars! Admittedly it depends where in Europe you are though.
Me at first: Wait that's illegal
Then: Oh I see, this is easy
After explanation: Now I'm confused again
i have known this riddle for almost 20 years. i was at home and came my nephew with a bunch of unsolved riddles in a book and we stumbled upon this one that amazed us, to the point i still remember it 20 years later! lovely video Mr.V 🤓
I don’t need to worry about having this problem because I don’t have any friends
I don’t need to worry about having this problem because I don’t have any dollars.
@@dbwww6774 hang on...
It's not a double negative... but I do not know what it is. help pls
I’m pretty sure you’ve uploaded more videos in the past month than VSauce 1 and VSauce 3 have uploaded in the past year
Quantity over quality.
@@elijahthompson7049 But these are still quality.
@@justinevans1852, they are great videos, and well thought out, but they have no where near the scale and special effects put into other videos, which allows him to churn them out faster.
@@areszippy4434 That is true.
@@Jamsessionroom1337 disney owns the mcu... VSAUCE OWNS VSAUCE 2!?!?!?!?!1/11/?!1/!?!/1/?1//1/!1????1!/1/!?!/??!/?!?
Moral of the story: leave a 20% tip.
Moral of the story : don't tip. Move to any country where tipping isn't mandatory. Why must you, a consumer, pay the wages of an employee? That's the employer's job!
@@murder7415 Where do you live? Asking for a friend
@@murder7415: I don't know why we tip anymore. Since the wait staff is getting $15/hour, "the living wage", they don't need tips to live. Also, if you do tip, don't include the taxes in the tip calculation.
@@arikwolf3777 the wait staff doesn’t get that much. Everywhere in the US tipped positions, like wait staff, are paid less than minimum wage. Disabled people can also be paid sub minimum wages by their employers regardless of whether it’s a tipped position or not. Gotta love the US.
@@jalexoneschanel1356: As long as a person make $30 in tip for the month, the employer can pay that person below minimum wage. The exceptions are CA, NV, OR, WA, AK and MN. Everyone gets state minimum wage before tips. I will not tip in those states.
Hi I'm Tony ,I sent you this riddle a year or so ago only I use 3 businessmen in my example. Also asked others and you are the only one who even attempted a answer thank you. I'm going to watch video again and try to understand more . This and lots of your other topics interesting and enjoyable but need to sit back and think, or figure out. Ok thanks again.Tony
So we're just going to gloss over the fact that the bus boy committed burglary?
Edit: Sorry all, but I couldn't remember the word "theft" when i wrote this comment.
Dude the customers can't count!
Ain't going to jail if no one snitches.
Not unless he broke into the customer's houses later to get that $2
@@wiiztec And that would be burglary and theft :)
Burglary is 'entry into a building with intent to steal'.
@@TMPreRaff not nececarally, burglary and theft are two different crimes for a reason, burglary itself is just to enter a building illegally, theft is taking something from someone without their consent. Next time you Google burglary, google the "criminal justice definition" thats the realy one my guy.
*I CAN'T REMEMBER MY PASSWORD FOR LASTPASS*
*SHOULD'VE STORED YOUR LASTPASS PASSWORD ON LASTPASS*
*WRITE IT DOWN ON PAPER AND KEEP IT IN A SAFE OR SOMETHING*
*f*
Name related
@alex bynum have you tried using last pass
Great video as always Vsauce!!
This riddle is a perfect example of how people, both intentionally and unintentionally confuse facts and logic in our real lives resulting in stress, anxiety and confrontation with others.
Yes
I've been enjoying your videos for a few years. Thanks
Never mind losing a dollar, I'll buy that for a dollar.
You get a like because I understood that reference.
Anyone else?
@@themc3311 I drove up in my 6000SUX just to understand a second layer to the reference
Ill buy it for a dollor and 5 cents
Dustin Moe one dollar and six cents
Robocop reference btw
Anyone seen this riddle before but literally forgets the solution every time you see it? Its blown my mind like 5 times in my life, deja vu is real
I didn't even get it the first time I heard it a long time ago. This time I was listening to Kevin explain and about halfway through I went "wait, that's not what you do with the $2."
I love you for making me realize I'm not the only one who's done that.
Yeah...Kevin did this already
I have that sometimes, like the second time encountering this phenomenon, but when he puts “9 9 9 25 2” it was *really* clear to me that it was 9+9+9=25+2 before he had even said 27, so luckily I didn’t need a _third_ epiphany on the same trick
yeah but once you see it its so simple, you paid 27$ with the tip, , so that is 9+9+9, ? i dont even get how i got confused
I love how you just tell what the problem is and just do it. You don’t make people wait to start
Where'd the dollar go?
Kevin: that's Dallas.
Lmao I asked my teacher this question an here's what she said:
Me: *explains question*
Me: So where is the missing dollar?
Teacher: In my pocket.
Ahahahha
😐
*MOOD*
@loocuh just laugh and leave
@loocuh probably but it’s funny
Glad that Kevin is keeping Vsauce alive.
Yeh, he didn't sell out like his senior.
@@mosab643 Hmm?
@@ophigreen2096 I'm talking about Mr. Stevens.
Oh my goodness, you're so funny!! Laughed almost entirely in the whole video xD !! It's so funny on how the numbers u said that supposedly confuses us and making us rush into not knowing the answer and tbh i did say 30 in my mind and then u said 30, and I started laughing of amazement!!!💓👍
I figured this out after pausing the video and thinking it about it for 5 minutes. I am very proud of myself.
Me too !
My dumbass though 'Bill' was a friend too
Liam Fauve dont use words you can't spell, especially when you're trying to insult someone.
@@joejohnstone3170 oof
@@joejohnstone3170 r/woooosh
And that’s how YOU lost the dollar 😂
Joe Johnstone r/woosh
I checked my wallet when he said that I lost a dollar. You never know with this guy. Good vid
Bro. He said not literally.
It’s a joke :|
😂😂
my dad told me this riddle when I was a kid. I was bewildered at the time -but then he explained how it works to me. I cant believe I found this on CZcams!!! Reminded me of my awesome childhood - thanks
I was literally confused at the start I thought four people went out one of them named Bill😂
Not just you, almost everybody. I thought it was name of the restaurant's manager.
@@ShlokParab lol😂
The whole time I was like NO! You’re counting it all wrong! 😂
@Shakthi Udana Yeah, it's kinda irritating to watch when you're not fooled by the riddle.. I was there the entire time like... "27-2 is 25, thats exactly right, why tf do you wanna add them? The three missing is what you gave back"
Oh totally, I'm here like "why you keep adding the tip to the paid total, it's already in there" xD
literalllyyylylylylylyylylyl
yes. i thought i was missing something so i stayed until i was just told what i already knew (the answer)
Yeah, it's not really a riddle. The premise contains an obvious error.
I hate it when I'm eating something crunchy and I can't hear the TV anymore
Amen
SwissSpace uhhh ok
It’s worse with earbuds
@@ethancal381 Omg it's so bad. It like amplifys it.
Thanks for this. An inside look into how easy it can be to be hoodwinked through numbers!
I'm glad I kept watching because I almost clicked off the video once I realized the math you did was wrong, but then you later explained that it was part of the riddle and meant to confuse.
The Missing Comment Riddle
There are no replies on this comment.
*Where are the missing replies?*
There is one missing reply out of 4
You're everywhere!!
Hail vooperia
*TRUE AF!* Especially when the video is just uploaded.
*OH!* Don't forget that "50 likes, 20 views" thing
It's quite simple. The $27 they paid includes the $2 tip... You can't add them together.
thank you
14 years ago when i was 18 years old,, I went into the construction industry. One morning I went into the port-o potty (probably to hide) and I sat down. There in front of me, written on the wall was this entire riddle. It blew my mind to this day and I always appreciated the fact some random worker took the time to write this riddle word for word in great penmanship too lol!
My dad told me this riddle when I was a kid 30 years ago. How did he hear about it before CZcams? Thanks for bringing it back and explaining!
Paused at 2:09.
My "solution" is that there is no reason to expect the total "before" and the total "after" to be equal. In the "before" scenario, $10 + $10 + $10 = $30. In the "after" scenario, $9 + $9 + $9 = $25 + $2. Everything's fine, the equations are equal, and there's no missing dollar. The reason the "riddle" exists is because the $2 is placed on the wrong side of the equal sign - we're putting it with the customers, when it should actually be with the bill. We're asking "why isn't the $29 equal to $30?" when in fact there is no reason to suppose that it should be.
YES, YOU SEE IT TOO! It was $30-$3 for $27 that they actually paid. Can't believe he got this so wrong.
....On Purpose
Thank you. I understand your analysis. I didn’t understand the video at all.
Totally
9 + 9 + 9 - 2 = 25, and those 5 dollars of overpay is then 30
This is where my mind immediately went too. I was just like... "WTF... You don't know how to math! You're putting the wrong numbers in the wrong places!"
- 9 - 9 - 9 +2 = -25, all four paid 25 that is. and the driver got + 25, that is the logic used first (30 - 10 - 10 - 10 = 0) and (25 - 9 - 9 - 9 + 2 = 0) there is nothing wrong here. and the next one should be ( 10 - 4 - 4 - 4 + 2 = 0) he simply forgets that the total amount paid should be negative.. not posetive
Shorter version:
The refund was 5 dollars. So you took the original payment, subtracted 3 of those dollars but then added the remaining 2 dollars back. That makes no gosh darn sense.
Slightly longer version:
10 + 10 + 10 = 30
Whoops the bill was actually 25 dollars so subtract 5 from both sides to get the actual bill
10 + 10 + 10 - 5 = 30 - 5
Now lets separate out the different payments and simplify the right side
(10 - 1) + (10 - 1) + (10 - 1) - 2 = 25
See we subtracted the first three dollars of the refund, but we need to continue to subtract the other two
So now we get:
9 + 9 + 9 - 2 = 25
Which becomes
27 - 2 = 25
That's the whole thing. Bing bang boom. No nonsense about "considering the $3 twice"
SysPowerTools same, it’s simple math
0:18 this view makes me really uncomfortable
A few years ago my great uncle gave me this very question and now the next time I meet him I can tell the answer.Thank you Kevin!
I get it now!
27$ plus the 2$ tip, plus one Bill equals 30$
What?
Yes einstein here
The riddle assumes a 26 dollar bill.
*MR. KRABS HAS ENTERED THE CHAT*
Aaa-kakakakakakakak.
I'm finna steal this comment
One, you put the dollar in me pants, two, you put the dollar in me pants, or three, you put the dollar in me pants!!!!
That was a great discussion of a familiar problem!
One of the only videos on vsauce I can say I knew the answer to as he explained it
*Me on the outside* :ohhhh, I get it!!
*Me on the inside* : what the actual heck?!?!?! I’m so confused
@@neoupath8823 lol me 2
I've seen IRL where people do these quick-math problems and cause intentional screw-ups to their own benefit. We called them quick changers, where a guy would hand you $100 for his bill, get his change back, and then say "oh I have a 20, here, give me back the $100." So he hands you a $20, takes his $100 back but doesn't give you back the change. Then while the cashier is confused as hell, he walks off with his purchase and something like $100 profit.
Yep.
Never do multiple transactions at once.
It's a little more convoluted than that. Say you pay $5 for a beer with a $10 bill. The bartender hands you back $5. You take it and then say, "Oh, before you close the till, I have some dollar bills that will make it even", and you hand them 5 $1 bills and receive the $10 back. You end up with a free beer. The confusion comes from doing multiple transactions simultaneously and double counting the $5. Basically, in the bartenders mind, you paid $10 + $5 in ones and got $10 back.
It's a classic small con.
@@wzdew Yeah I was having a hard time putting it into words, but exactly this.
Yeah, I got caught out by that once when I was a kid and got my first bar job. Someone tried it a 2nd time though and I had learnt ny lesson and called them out on it.
"You just lost a dollar"
Me: Hang on, OH! You're right! I did lose a dollar!
My math teacher presented us with this riddle and I thought about it all day and I was so proud of myself when I had figured it out. When watching this video, however, I had forgotten the answer and had to stop the video and figure it out again =p
"You just lost a dollar"
I have money?
No, you don’t. You know why? ‘Cause you’re broke.
Kevin, Kevin here, thank you for the 6 months of bit defender free on your last video, it's an awesome program, ty.
I love it myself. Already had it, so no free trial for me, but it works well on my computer and the anti-theft features on my phone are a nice bonus.
we have about 3 cameras here but let me use the one above my head to do the sponsor talk
This honestly totally changed my mind. I thought I was fairly good at math and thought it was going into the register but I never considered adding the tip to the total.
Secretly, I put the missing dollar in my pocket and ran
Loving the frequent uploads :)
Thanks Kevin, good stuff. Happy holidays.
This totally happens when my group of friends go out somewhere but we dont pay for our own stuff.. Only 2 of our friends end up paying in the spot. But later on when we try to calculate who owes whom how much, It generally takes us 2 days to reach a consensus 😂
Hahaha extremely relatable. It seems we all have gone through that sort of experience at least once.
So, you solved a puzzle I was asked to solve as a child and could never find the answer to. Thank you :)
Back when I was a kid, I used to get mad because I couldn't solve this one, after a while putting the numbers on a paper I was mad because how dumb this was and how tf I wasn't able to solve this
This riddle makes me mad
It's my favourite
wait but it's 27-2=25...
he said plus 2
@@pathetik yes, but logically, you would subtract two.
Yes, that's basically the answer.
But it was split amongst 3 so the dollar didn't at all go missing
Yes, but actually no
When he said I lost a dollar I instinctually looked at my wallet, even though I don't have any cash.
Couldn't amaze me even a little.
no idea what you were talking about during most of the video but i enjoyed it
Damn, first reply
Same tbh
Welcome to vsauce
Every vsauce video
Lol
so I still have $6.16 in my bank
My grandfather told me this riddle when I was a kid and I was so mad I couldn't figure or out. I spent so much time writing it down and trying to figure it out while being confused as hell. Even after he explained it😅. RIP grandpa I will pass ir on to my own children in your memory.
The missing server question, and the bus boy doing all the work. Remind me of working in the industry.
Shouldn't you be subtracting the 2$ tip instead of adding it?
Alex Buczala thats another answer
Yeap
Yup, "tip" is not what it is, the guy "stole" the $2. That might make it a little bit easier to understand. Stole also signifies that they were unaware of the transaction, and its size.
@@babelfishdude that doesnt matter
Yayyyy! Vsauce2 and the create unknown uploads on the same day!
"Where is the missing dollar?"
"If I knew, then it wouldn't be missing, would it?"
Almost caused a riot giving this puzzle to a bunch of guys ...went nuts on this
i remember my dad telling me this like 4 - 5 years ago and me being a kid, i didnt understand and thought that they dropped a dollar or something :p
Kevin: *explains the problem* Where's the missing dollar?? Where did it go???
Me, a beginner at economics: That is NOT how bookkeeping works, but okay
The moment he added what they spent and the tip, I just sighed and seeing the fact that so many people were stumped by this makes me disappointed haha.
That had my head spinning for a minute lol
when he said "you just lost a dollar" im crying in a corner because i lost my whole life savings
F to pay respects to the dollar
F
F
Why pay respect to government debt?
I love how you break these riddles and paradoxes down.
My dad used to tell me this riddle all the time except the only difference was that instead of a lunch, it was 3 buddies checking into a hotel room for the night, and the manager released that it was friday and rooms are only 25 on fridays. Good ol' riddle old as time :)
Was told this riddle two decades ago and was never smart enough to figure out what was going on. So glad to have finally found an intelligent answer.
You just lost a dollar!
Mr. Krabs: [gets heart attack]
Thanks for 666 likes [edit]
Mr. Krabs*
Crivan Lomboy because dislikes don’t show up
dollar*
@@poopfart65 Which means somebody could've disliked his comment and we would never know 🤔
$49.08 EIGHT! THAT'S A PENNY SHORT! *breaks down in tears*
I've always loved this riddle. Great video!
I’ve been rewatching the intro for the last year, I am now broke.
I looked for a video like this because the substitute in my history class told us, "if you can solve this math problem, then I'll leave a good note for your class." This is literally the exact same problem, but different scenario
You can keep the change....
I can't do math.... HAHAHA
Shouldn't the second scenario be 6 times 3 making 18 and the waiter takes 2 that gives you 20$?
You are awesome, i love your videos
Dude I remember this riddle from when i lived in Bangladesh in the early 2000s. I asked a couple of my teachers here in the US the couldn't figure it out. But then i actually had a good Math teacher. he knew how to solve it. took him like 5 mins just looking at the problem and he figured it out.