Answer:
Yes!
Step-by-step explanation:
We know that right triangles follow the Pythagorean Theorem, where
So we will put our side lengths into this formula, keeping in mind that c = the hypotenuse, which is the longest side. a and b are fairly arbitrary.
If this works, we know it's a right triangle.
1089 + 1936 = 3025
3025 = 3025
It worked! It's a right triangle!!
Let's call the two numbers and
.
Given these variables, we can say: , based on the first sentence in the problem.
Also, remember that the reciprocal of a number is simply 1 divided by the number. Thus, we can say that:
To solve, we can simply substitute in for
in the second equation and solve.
Now, notice that we have found two solutions, but the problem is only asking for one. This <em>likely </em>means that one of our solutions is extraneous. Let's take a look. Remember that the smaller positive number is equal to 14 less than the larger number. However,
,
Since is not positive in this case,
is not a solution.
Thus, is our only solution. In this case,
,
which means that the smaller number is 14 and the larger number is 28.