A bank customer had $100 in his account. He then made 6 withdrawals, totaling $100. He kept a record of these withdrawals, and the balance remaining in the account, as follows:
| Withdrawal | Balance | |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | 50 | |
| 25 | 25 | |
| 10 | 15 | |
| 8 | 7 | |
| 5 | 2 | |
| 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 100 | 99 |
When he added up the balance column, there is only $99. Where is the missing dollar?
Answer
The problem is that the question is cleverly phrased to cause confusion.
The balance total does not need to be equal to the withdrawal total. And in this case, the balance total will not add up to something meaningful.
Let’s say you have $100 in your bank account and you make 2 withdrawals of $1 each. The withdrawal total is $2 ($1 + $1). But the balance total is $197 ($99 + $98).