GIVING CHANGE.
(
Money Puzzles)
Every one is familiar with the difficulties that frequently arise over
the giving of change, and how the assistance of a third person with a
few coins in his pocket will sometimes help us to set the matter right.
Here is an example. An Englishman went into a shop in New York and
bought goods at a cost of thirty-four cents. The only money he had was a
dollar, a three-cent piece, and a two-cent piece. The tradesman had only
a half-dollar and a quarter-dollar. But another customer happened to be
present, and when asked to help produced two dimes, a five-cent piece, a
two-cent piece, and a one-cent piece. How did the tradesman manage to
give change? For the benefit of those readers who are not familiar with
the American coinage, it is only necessary to say that a dollar is a
hundred cents and a dime ten cents. A puzzle of this kind should rarely
cause any difficulty if attacked in a proper manner.
Answer:
The way to help the American tradesman out of his dilemma is this.
Describing the coins by the number of cents that they represent, the
tradesman puts on the counter 50 and 25; the buyer puts down 100, 3, and
2; the stranger adds his 10, 10, 5, 2, and 1. Now, considering that the
cost of the purchase amounted to 34 cents, it is clear that out of this
pooled money the tradesman has to receive 109, the buyer 71, and the
stranger his 28 cents. Therefore it is obvious at a glance that the
100-piece must go to the tradesman, and it then follows that the
50-piece must go to the buyer, and then the 25-piece can only go to the
stranger. Another glance will now make it clear that the two 10-cent
pieces must go to the buyer, because the tradesman now only wants 9 and
the stranger 3. Then it becomes obvious that the buyer must take the 1
cent, that the stranger must take the 3 cents, and the tradesman the 5,
2, and 2. To sum up, the tradesman takes 100, 5, 2, and 2; the buyer,
50, 10, 10, and 1; the stranger, 25 and 3. It will be seen that not one
of the three persons retains any one of his own coins.
Informational
