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The Area of The Square Built Upon The Hypotenuse of A Right Triangle Is Equal To The Sum of The Areas of The Squares Upon The Remaining Sides.

The Pythagorean Theorem states that the sum of the squares of the lengths of the two sides of a right triangle equals the square of the length of the hypotenuse. This theorem, named after the Greek mathematician Pythagoras, was one of the earliest theorems known to ancient civilizations. Although credited to Pythagoras, it is believed the Babylonians knew of this relationship between triangle sides earlier. The proof of the Pythagorean Theorem led to problems in number theory and the discovery that some numbers are irrational.

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120 views

The Area of The Square Built Upon The Hypotenuse of A Right Triangle Is Equal To The Sum of The Areas of The Squares Upon The Remaining Sides.

The Pythagorean Theorem states that the sum of the squares of the lengths of the two sides of a right triangle equals the square of the length of the hypotenuse. This theorem, named after the Greek mathematician Pythagoras, was one of the earliest theorems known to ancient civilizations. Although credited to Pythagoras, it is believed the Babylonians knew of this relationship between triangle sides earlier. The proof of the Pythagorean Theorem led to problems in number theory and the discovery that some numbers are irrational.

Uploaded by

Richel B. Balidoy
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Pythagorean Theorem was one of the earliest theorems known to ancient civilizations.

This famous
theorem is named for the Greek mathematician and philosopher, Pythagoras. Pythagoras founded the
Pythagorean School of Mathematics in Cortona, a Greek seaport in Southern Italy. He is credited with
many contributions to mathematics although some of them may have actually been the work of his
students.

The Pythagorean Theorem is Pythagoras' most famous mathematical contribution. According to legend,
Pythagoras was so happy when he discovered the theorem that he offered a sacrifice of oxen. The later
discovery that the square root of 2 is irrational and therefore, cannot be expressed as a ratio of two
integers, greatly troubled Pythagoras and his followers. They were devout in their belief that any two
lengths were integral multiples of some unit length. Many attempts were made to suppress the
knowledge that the square root of 2 is irrational. It is even said that the man who divulged the secret
was drowned at sea.

The Pythagorean Theorem is a statement about triangles containing a right angle. The Pythagorean
Theorem states that:

"The area of the square built upon the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the areas
of the squares upon the remaining sides."

Figure 1

According to the Pythagorean Theorem, the sum of the areas of the two red squares, squares A and B, is
equal to the area of the blue square, square C.
Thus, the Pythagorean Theorem stated algebraically is:

for a right triangle with sides of lengths a, b, and c, where c is the length of the hypotenuse.

Although Pythagoras is credited with the famous theorem, it is likely that the Babylonians knew the
result for certain specific triangles at least a millennium earlier than Pythagoras. It is not known how the
Greeks originally demonstrated the proof of the Pythagorean Theorem. If the methods of Book II of
Euclid's Elements were used, it is likely that it was a dissection type of proof similar to the following:

"A large square of side a+b is divided into two smaller squares of sides a and b respectively, and two
equal rectangles with sides a and b; each of these two rectangles can be split into two equal right
triangles by drawing the diagonal c. The four triangles can be arranged within another square of side a+b
as shown in the figures.

The area of the square can be shown in two different ways:

1. As the sum of the area of the two rectangles and the squares:

2. As the sum of the areas of a square and the four triangles:

Now, setting the two right hand side expressions in these equations equal, gives
Therefore, the square on c is equal to the sum of the squares on a and b. (Burton 1991)

There are many other proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem. One came from the contemporary Chinese
civilization found in the oldest extant Chinese text containing formal mathematical theories,
the Arithmetic Classic of the Gnoman and the Circular Paths of Heaven.

The proof of the Pythagorean Theorem that was inspired by a figure in this book was included in the
book Vijaganita,  (Root Calculations), by the Hindu mathematician Bhaskara. Bhaskara's only explanation
of his proof was, simply, "Behold".

These proofs and the geometrical discovery surrounding the Pythagorean Theorem led to one of the
earliest problems in the theory of numbers known as the Pythgorean problem.

The Pythagorean Problem:

Find all right triangles whose sides are of integral length, thus finding all solutions in the positive integers
of the Pythagorean equation:

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