Juan ate 1/3 of the jellybeans. Maria then ate 3/4 of the remaining jelly beans, which left 10 jelly beans. How many jelly beans were there to begin with?

Answer 1

original number ---- x
Juan ate (1/3)x , leaving (2/3)x

Maria ate 3/4 of that , leaving (1/4)((2/3)x = (1/6)x

(1/6)x = 10
x = 60
There were 60 j-beans

check:
Juan ate 1/3 of the 60 or he ate 20 , leaving 40
Maria ate (3/4) of the 40 , or 30, which would leave 10