The famous “missing dollar” puzzle is a trick of misleading math.
You borrow $100, spend $97 on a shirt, and get $3 back. After returning $1 to each parent, you keep $1 and owe $49 to each parent, for a total debt of $98.
The mistake is adding the $1 you kept to the $98 debt. The $1 is already included in that $98.
The correct equation is:
$97 (shirt) + $1 (kept) + $2 (returned) = $100.
No dollar is missing—the puzzle only works because it mixes debt and cash in a confusing way.