Final answer:
Cutting a rectangle diagonally produces two identical right triangles, each with a 90-degree angle and two other angles adding up to 90 degrees.
Step-by-step explanation:
If a student cuts a rectangle and gets two identical triangles, the type of triangles they are likely to have are right triangles. When cutting a rectangle diagonally from one corner to the opposite corner, each triangle will have one angle that is 90 degrees (the angle that was originally the rectangle's corner), which is a defining characteristic of a right triangle. Since the two resulting triangles are identical, they both have one 90-degree angle and two angles that must add up to 90 degrees (because a triangle's angles always add up to 180 degrees), thus conforming to the definition of a right triangle. These triangles would also be isosceles since two sides (the ones that were adjacent in the rectangle) would be equal in length. However, the correct answer in this context referring to the most defining characteristic is a right triangle.