Missing Dollar Paradox

The so-called missing dollar paradox is a puzzle which seems at first glance to violate the laws of mathematics. In fact the story is neither a genuine paradox (since there no inherent contradiction once the solution is discovered) nor a mathematical puzzle (since it relies on trickery to achieve its effect).

The Problem

Three ladies go to a restaurant for a meal. They receive a bill for $30. They each put $10 on the table, which the waiter collects and takes to the till. The cashier informs the waiter that the bill should only have been for $25 and returns $5 to the waiter in $1 coins. On the way back to the table the waiter realizes that he cannot divide the coins equally between the ladies. As they didn?t know the total of the revised bill, he decides to put $2 in his own pocket and give each of the ladies $1.

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Now, each of the ladies paid $9. Three times 9 is 27. The waiter has $2 in his pocket. Two plus 27 is $29. The ladies originally handed over $30. Where is the missing dollar?

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