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Pythagoras Theorem

Pythagoras was a Greek mathematician who discovered a relationship between the sides of a right triangle. The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. The theorem has many applications in fields like surveying, navigation, construction, and trigonometry.

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43 views3 pages

Pythagoras Theorem

Pythagoras was a Greek mathematician who discovered a relationship between the sides of a right triangle. The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. The theorem has many applications in fields like surveying, navigation, construction, and trigonometry.

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VSRI1993
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We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Pythagoras Theorem

Pythagoras was a Greek mathematician and philosopher. He was the leader of a secret mathematics
society. With their motto as "All is number", they explored the "magic 3-4-5 triangle." This type of triangle
was called "magic" because it created a right-angled triangle always. They then generalized this rule for
right triangles. (A)

Theorem: “In a right-angled triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of squares of other
two sides.”(B)

Proof 1:

Consider the following figure:

Perpendicular: AB

Base: BC

Hypotenuse: AC

Draw BD⊥AC.

The hypotenuse is opposite to the angle 90° and is the longest side.

∠ABC=90°

In △ADB and △ABC

∠A=∠A              [Common angle to both triangles]

∠ADB=∠ABC      [Each measures 90 degrees]

△ADB∼△ABC    [A−A Criteria]

So, 

AB / AD = AC / AB
Now, AB2 = AD × AC             ------------ equation (1)

Similarly,

BC2= CD × AC              ------------ equation (2)

Adding equations (1) and (2) we get,

AB2+BC2 = AD×AC + CD×AC

=AC (AD+CD)

=AC×AC

∴ AB2+BC2=AC2 

Thus proved!

Proof 2:

Now we start with four formats of the same triangle.

Out of these three have been rotated 90°, 180°, and 270° respectively.

Each has an area (1/2) x ab.

Now what we do is put them together so that they form a square with side c.

The square has a smaller square in the middle with the side (a-b).
Adding its area (a-b) x (a-b) and 2ab, the area of the four triangles (4x (1/2) ab ), we get

c2 = (a-b) 2+2ab

c2 = a2-2ab+b2+2ab

c2 = a2+b2

Hence proved!

Applications: Pythagoras theorem is invaluable in many modern concepts; various modes such as
computing distances in surveying and navigation use this basic theorem!

Several other applications include -- the design of ramps for specially-able people, building slides
in enjoyment parks, cartography, and to find angles. The Pythagoras theorem is basically the
starting point for almost all trigonometrically derived formulas!

Sources:

(A). Mac Tutor History of Mathematics Archive http://www-


groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/index.html

(B). Maor, E. (2007). The Pythagorean Theorem: A 4,000-year history. Princeton, N.J: Princeton
University Press.

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