Let a be the smallest one and then b be the bigger angle we know that a+b= 90 we also given b/a=17/13 solve for a (smaller one) b=90-a replace b in the second equation by 90-a we get (90-a)/a= 17/13 cross multiply 13(90-a)=17a 1170-13a=17a 1170=30a 1170/30=a 39=a smallest angle is 39 degrees
