You borrow
50 from dad. You buy a shirt for
3 in change. You give
1 back to dad. You keep
49=
1=$99. What happened to the other dollar
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
This is a classic “missing dollar riddle” that plays on confusion about how the amounts are being accounted for. Let’s break it down clearly:
- You borrow $50 from your dad.
This is the starting amount you owe him. - You buy a shirt for $3 and get $47 in change.
So, you’ve spent $3 and now you have $47. The shirt cost $3, so we need to keep track of what happened to that $3. - You give $1 back to dad.
Now, you’ve given your dad back $1. You still owe him $49 (because you borrowed $50 and gave back $1). - You keep $49.
Here’s where the riddle gets tricky. You still have the $47 in your pocket and the $2 from the change that you kept from the shirt purchase.
So the $49 you “keep” is not related to your debt in the way the riddle implies. It’s a misunderstanding in how the amounts are combined. The breakdown is:
- You owe your dad $49, not $50 anymore because you returned $1.
- You bought a shirt worth $3, so that $3 is already accounted for in the shirt.
The “$99” part is a trick that makes you add the amounts incorrectly. There’s no missing dollar because the $49 you owe and the $47 you still hold are part of your total owed, and the shirt is already included in the calculations.
Conclusion:
There’s no mystery dollar missing. It’s a misleading question that mixes up the amounts in a way that tricks the reader into thinking the math doesn’t add up.
