Got to find two numbers a and b such that a x a minus b x b = 28.

Upon inspection, this is 8 x 8 - 6 x 6.

So, the bigger square has side 8 cm and the smaller square has side 6 cm.

The full length is 14 cm.

insufficient info

unless question states the side sld be the whole number

Is there a formula or way to find the number. Rather than guess and check

There is an awkward secondary school method for this, but then again there is no definitive answer.

SStrike’s point has something to do with this.

Something to do with (a + b) times (a - b) = 28, but the only whole number solutions are a = 8 and b = 6 (or the other way).

I am going to presume that the examiner isn’t going to “grill” the student on decimals or fractions for the lengths in this instance.

Got it. Thanks

Some degree of guess and check will still be needed, but if we actually include non-whole number solutions, there are multiple possible solutions.

For example, a = 5.5 and b = 1.5 fits the solution as well.

The other solutions are expected to be “uglier”, for example a = 5.75 and b = 2.25.

https://ask.manytutors.com/questions/134964