Problem: A woman goes to buy a pair of shoes. She stops at a shoe store and buys a pair of shoe worth 200 rupees. She hands a thousand rupee note to the shopkeeper. Shopkeeper is short of change, he goes to a nearby tea stall and brings the change. He keeps 200 rupees with himself, handing 800 rupees to the woman. After woman leaves, tea stall owner comes to the shoe store and claims the note to be a fake one. Shoe store owner checks it and agrees. Now the question is, who is in loss and by what amount?
Will post the solution to this puzzle after some time. Till then, let us know your thoughts.
The shoe store owner will lose 1,800 rupees and a pair of shoes
ReplyDeleteNo, shoe store owner will lose 800 rupees ans a pair of shoes.
DeleteThe total loss is incurred by the shoe store owner, amounting to 1000 rupees. Here's a breakdown:
DeleteThe woman paid 1000 rupees for the shoes.
The shoe store owner kept 200 rupees for the shoes and returned 800 rupees to the woman.
Later, the tea stall owner discovered the 1000 rupee note was fake and returned to the shoe store.
The shoe store owner had already given 800 rupees back to the woman, and he gave away a pair of shoes worth 200 rupees, totaling 1000 rupees in losses.
Therefore, the shoe store owner bears the loss of 1000 rupees.
The total loss is incurred by the shoe store owner, amounting to 1000 rupees. Here's a breakdown:
DeleteThe woman paid 1000 rupees for the shoes.
The shoe store owner kept 200 rupees for the shoes and returned 800 rupees to the woman.
Later, the tea stall owner discovered the 1000 rupee note was fake and returned to the shoe store.
The shoe store owner had already given 800 rupees back to the woman, and he gave away a pair of shoes worth 200 rupees, totaling 1000 rupees in losses.
Therefore, the shoe store owner bears the loss of 1000 rupees.
A simple way to approach this issue is to remove the thousand rupee note (since its fake) and consider it as Zero rupees.
ReplyDeleteNow Lets take the perspective of all the parties involved.
Woman: Gave 0 rupees, but gained Rs.200 worth of shoes + Rs.800 in Cash. Net Rs.1000 worth of Profit.
Tea Stall Owner: Gave Rs.1000 worth of notes and gained back Rs.1000. Net Zero.
Shoe Store Owner: Started out with 0, and ended up paying Rs.1000 (800cash + 200Shoes) of loss. Net Rs.1000 loss.