the sum of two numbers is 36. The smaller number is 20 less than the larger number. What are the numbers

Answer: smaller number = 8, larger number = 28

Step-by-step explanation:

Let x=smaller number, so x+20

Is the larger number.

The sum of both numbers must equal 36, so x + (x + 20) = 36; 2x + 20 = 36; now subtract 20 from both sides and you have 2x = 16; divide both sides by 2 and you have x = 8, so this is the smaller number. The bigger number is 8 + 20 = 28, and when you add them together you get 36