The sum of two numbers is 41. The smaller number is 17 less than the larger number. What are the numbers?
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In the given diagram, the traingles USW and UTV are similar triangles and thus the following ratio equality applies to them.
..........(Equation 1)
Checking the diagram given, we see that:
VT=y, WS=22, VU=8, ST=x-2
WU=WV+VU=12+8=20
TU=5
SU=ST+TU=(x-2)+5=x+3
Thus, substituting the required values in (Equation 1) we get:
Now, as can be clearly seen, to find y we will use the first two ratios as:
In a similar manner, to find the value of x we can use the last two ratios:
After cross multiplication we get:
Which can be simplified as:
Thus,
Therefore, the required answer is:
x=9.5 and y=8.8