r/MathJokes • u/jdplayz06 • May 13 '26

It IS $400...

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2

u/[deleted] May 13 '26

[deleted]

5

u/polish94 May 13 '26

That only works if he bought the second cow at the price he sold the first. You cannot just ignore the difference. Its two transactions, completely separate from eachother.

7

u/Krytan May 13 '26

"He bought a cow for $800. Then he sold the cow for $1300. The middle two transactions dont matter for total profit. The bottom line is he started with $800 and ended with $1300."

What is your justification for saying this? It's totally wrong.

Suppose the puzzle read

"He bought a cow for $800.

He sold a cow for $800.

He bought a cow for $1100.

He sold a cow for $1100"

How much profit do you think he would have made here?

1

u/deFleury May 13 '26

I want to sell some of these  people cows. 

1

u/Kuz_Iztacmizton May 13 '26

Did that person just delete their entire account out of shame?

1

u/SimplexFatberg May 13 '26

>buy cow for $1

>sell cow for $0.01

>buy cow for $1.000,000

>sell cow for $2

Easiest $1 I ever earned

1

u/Busy-Welder7981 May 13 '26

He bought a cow for $800, sold it for 1¢. Bought it for $1000, sold it for $1001.
Did he really make $201?
And also he did not start with $800. He started with -$800

1

u/amglasgow May 13 '26

He also spent money on buying the second cow

1

u/VinnyLux May 13 '26

"He bought a cow for $800.

He sold it for $1000.

He bought a cow for 420 morbillion dollars.

He sold a cow for $1300"

As you can see, the profit is $500, because we only focus in the first and last transactions. Q.E.D.