Question

Carlos ate 1/3 of the jelly beans. 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

(2/3)(1/4)b = 10

(1/6)b = 10

b = 60 jelly beans

Explanation:

Checking this solution:

Assume that there were 60 jelly beans. Carlos ate 1/3(60) = 20 of them, so there were 40 jelly beans left. Maria then ate (3/4)(40) = 30 of the remaining jelly beans, so there were 10 jelly beans left.

So there were 60 jelly beans to begin with.