This seemingly simple math puzzle has become a favorite online because it looks easy at first, yet often leads to surprisingly heated disagreement. The setup involves a thief, a stolen $100 bill, a later purchase, and change handed back during the transaction. While the story appears straightforward, the challenge comes from tracking what the store actually loses by the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The scenario begins when a thief takes $100 directly from a store\u2019s cash register. At that moment, the business is short $100 in cash. Later, the same person returns and uses that stolen bill to buy $70 worth of merchandise. Since the cashier does not know the money was stolen, the transaction is treated like a normal sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The confusing part comes when the cashier accepts the $100 bill and gives the thief $30 in change. Many people start adding every part of the story separately\u2014the stolen bill, the merchandise, and the change\u2014without accounting for the fact that the same $100 bill returns to the register. This is why different answers often appear in comment sections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The store\u2019s final loss is $100: $70 worth of goods plus $30 in change. The stolen bill came back, so it cancels out as cash inside the register. What the thief ultimately walks away with is merchandise valued at $70 and $30 cash, making the total loss to the store $100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This seemingly simple math puzzle has become a favorite online because it looks easy at first, yet often leads to surprisingly heated disagreement. The setup involves a thief, a stolen … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n