The Missing Peso

This paradox probably has thousands of variants already. Since the concept is no longer original, I will reinvent the presentation by introducing one of my favorite comfort foods: yogurt!

~o~o~

After watching a rather depressing film, three friends decided to share a yogurt which costs PhP 145. Each one of them gave the cashier a 50-bill. In return, the cashier hands them five 1-peso coins as change. Each of them takes one of the coins and deposits the remaining two coins in the tip box. When seated, one of the girls did a simple math. Each girl's share is PhP 49, giving a total of PhP 147 for the three of them. Add the PhP 2 tip to this gives only a total of PhP 149. Where is the other 1-peso? Explain this paradox.

~o~o~

The problem was presented in a way the readers would think that there is a missing peso, when in fact what is really missing is logic. In truth, the transaction is balanced; think of inflow-outflow, or cash flow analysis. The yoghurt costs PhP 145; 1 peso was returned to each of them for a total of 3 pesos; they dropped 2 pesos on the tip box. The sum of these amounts is PhP 150. Equivalently, each of them contributed only PhP 49 giving a total of PhP 147 and the yoghurt plus the tip equals PhP 147. Thus, every peso has been attributed for.

By the way, the yogurt is worth fighting the missing peso for! Visit Red Mango for proof.

[Photo from Red Mango Philippines Facebook]