Must Be A Simple Answer !!!

[MissBryony]

This is all over f/b and i cant solve it.
A dress is £97, 50 is borrowed from mom and 50 from dad. Get £3 change, give £1 back to mom and £1 back to dad so I now owe £49 to each and I got £1. 49+49+1=99 wheres the missing pound?

[Prudie]

MissBryony this is as old as the hills. There are explanations all over the internet but it's not easy to explain on here, too much typing. basically an incorrect assumption is made, there is no missing pound.

[Old_Geezer]

You are adding up the wrong figures. The £1 in your hand is part of the £49s owed to your parents so can not be added to it. No time to sort details now but in short, garbage sums create garbage answers.

[1ozzy]

The missing pound is in your pocket,,,,go to the pub and drink it before your parents realise it is missing.

[MissBryony]

old as the hills it may be, however, I've never seen it.

[1ozzy]

And I've never figured it out.

I'm going to throw this one across my kids.
And if they don't find that dollar they owe me...Woe be them ;-)

[fiction-factory]

Because you are adding apples (what you have) and oranges (what you owe). The £1 is what you have (along witha dress worth £97) so you have £98 worth. The 49+49 is what you owe- also £98

[Old_Geezer]

Forgot to get back to this. Yes FF explains it well.

Money to the tune of £49 * 2 = £98 was supplied and forms one side of the equation.

Money was "spent" as £97 (cost of dress) and £1 (in your pocket).

These equal each other (both £98).


So it isn't 49+49+1 = 99 ≠ 98 nor 97 nor whatever

It is 49+49-1 = 97, which makes perfect sense.