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Proofs of Pythagorean Theorem

The document outlines three proofs of the Pythagorean theorem: 1) Proof by Pythagoras which shows that the area of the larger square is equal to the sum of the four triangles and the small square. 2) Proof by Bhaskara in 1114-1185 AD 3) Proof by similar triangles which uses observations about similar triangles to show that c^2 is equal to a^2 + b^2.

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Abhishek kumar
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29 views2 pages

Proofs of Pythagorean Theorem

The document outlines three proofs of the Pythagorean theorem: 1) Proof by Pythagoras which shows that the area of the larger square is equal to the sum of the four triangles and the small square. 2) Proof by Bhaskara in 1114-1185 AD 3) Proof by similar triangles which uses observations about similar triangles to show that c^2 is equal to a^2 + b^2.

Uploaded by

Abhishek kumar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Proofs of Pythagorean Theorem

1 Proof by Pythagoras (ca. 570 BC–ca. 495 BC) (on the left)
and by US president James Garfield (1831–1881) (on the right)
Proof by Pythagoras: in the figure on the left, the area of the large square (which is equal to
(a + b)2 ) is equal to the sum of the areas of the four triangles ( 21 ab each triangle) and the area of
the small square (c2 ):
 
2 1
(a + b) = 4 ab + c2 ⇒ a2 + 2ab + b2 = 2ab + c2 ⇒ a2 + b2 = c2 .
2

2 Proof by Bhaskara (1114–1185)

1
3 Proof by similar triangles
Let CH be the perpendicular from C to the side AB in the right triangle 4ABC.

AB CB c a a2
Observation 1: 4ABC ∼ 4CBH, therefore = , i.e., = , hence e = . (1)
BC CH a e c
AB AC c b b2
Observation 2: 4ABC ∼ 4ACH, therefore = , i.e., = , hence d = . (2)
AC AH b d c
a2 b2
Finally, AB = BH + AH, i.e, c = e + d. Using (1) and (2), we rewrite this as c = + , which is
c c
equivalent to c2 = a2 + b2 .

References
The book

Elisha Scott Loomis, The Pythagorean Proposition: Its Demonstrations Analyzed and
Classified, and Bibliography of Sources for Data of the Four Kinds of “Proofs”, Second
edition, 1940, available at http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED037335.pdf

contains 370 proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem.

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