Mar
17
2005

real-world math

This is the kind of word problem that should be on the GRE:

Rob, Dari and Alyson have just completed a meal of kabobs and hot tea at Kabob Bazaar. The check (including tip) comes to $30. Dari owes Alyson $5. Rob owes Dari $10. Alyson has a $5 bill. Dari has a $10 bill. Rob will be paying with his debit card.

Assuming that everyone owes the same amount for the meal ($10), how much does each person pay, and how does the money change hands?

Posted at 9:37 PM in personal

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Comments

You know, I was there, I participated in the successful solution of this very problem…. and I still don’t have a friggin idea what the answer is.

Posted by Dari on March 21, 2005 4:39 PM

The solution:

  1. Rob puts down his debit card. He will use the card to pay for his meal ($10) and for Dari’s meal ($10), thus repaying his $10 debt to Dari.
  2. Alyson puts down her $5 bill, paying for half of her meal.
  3. Dari puts down his $10 bill and takes away Alyson’s $5 bill as change. He has just repaid his $5 debt to Alyson. With $10 now on the table, Alyson’s meal is paid for.
Posted by alykat on March 21, 2005 5:43 PM

O.M.G. that’s totally what happened - thank God I wasn’t being quizzed, as I would have totally cheesed it. I still can’t believe it went as smoothly as it did.

Posted by Dari on March 21, 2005 5:50 PM

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