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Pythagoras

Pythagoras was a Greek mathematician from the 6th century BC who is best known for developing the Pythagorean theorem. He founded a religious brotherhood called the Pythagoreans in Croton, Italy, where they studied subjects like mathematics and philosophy. While the theorem may have origins prior to Pythagoras, he is generally credited with first proving that for any right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. There are several different proofs of this theorem, including Euclid's original geometric proof. The document also describes a board game designed to teach the Pythagorean theorem.

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Giridharan
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287 views16 pages

Pythagoras

Pythagoras was a Greek mathematician from the 6th century BC who is best known for developing the Pythagorean theorem. He founded a religious brotherhood called the Pythagoreans in Croton, Italy, where they studied subjects like mathematics and philosophy. While the theorem may have origins prior to Pythagoras, he is generally credited with first proving that for any right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. There are several different proofs of this theorem, including Euclid's original geometric proof. The document also describes a board game designed to teach the Pythagorean theorem.

Uploaded by

Giridharan
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 PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Pythagoras and the

Pythagorean Theorem

By
giridharan
19113053
Biography of Pythagoras
•PYTHAGORAS WAS A GREEK MATHEMATICIAN AND A
PHILOSOPHER, BUT WAS BEST KNOWN FOR HIS
PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM.

•HEWAS BORN AROUND 572 B.C. ON THE ISLAND OF


SAMOS.

• FOR ABOUT 22 YEARS, PYTHAGORAS SPENT TIME


TRAVELING THOUGH EGYPT AND BABYLONIA TO
EDUCATE HIMSELF.

•ATABOUT 530 B.C., HE SETTLED IN A GREEK TOWN IN


SOUTHERN ITALY CALLED CROTONA.

•PYTHAGORAS FORMED A BROTHERHOOD THAT WAS


AN EXCLUSIVE SOCIETY DEVOTED TO MORAL,
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL LIFE. THIS SOCIETY WAS KNOWN
AS PYTHAGOREANS.
Biography of Pythagoras

 The Pythagorean School excelled in many subjects, such as music,


medicine and mathematics.

 In the society, members were known as mathematikoi.

 History tells us that this theorem has been introduced through


drawings, texts, legends, and stories from Babylon, Egypt, and
China, dating back to 1800-1500 B.C.

 Unfortunately, no one is sure who the true founder of the


Pythagorean Theorem is. But it does seem certain through many
history books that some time in the sixth century B.C., Pythagoras
derives a proof for the Pythagorean Theorem.
Can Any Three Numbers Make A
Triangle????
Side lengths (cm) Area of square (cm²) Sum of the Sum of the areas Angle name of
areas of of smaller the triangle
smaller squares (cm²)
squares (cm²)

a b c a² b² c² a² + b² a² +b² ? c² Acute, right,


(>,<,=) obtuse

3 5 7 9 25 49 34 < obtuse

3
Column 14 5 9
Column 16
2 25 25 3
Column Column=4 right
Column 5

Write a sentence to describe the relationship between the sum of the areas
of smaller and middle size squares compared to the area of the largest
squares for:

1) An acute triangle 2) A right triangle 3) An obtuse triangle


The Pythagorean Theorem

 The sum of the squares of each leg of a right angled


triangle equals to the square of the hypotenuse
Many Proofs of the
Pythagorean Theorem
Euclidean Proof
 First of all, ΔABF = ΔAEC by SAS. This is because, AE
= AB, AF = AC, and
BAF = BAC + CAF = CAB + BAE = CAE.
 ΔABF has base AF and the altitude from B equal to
AC. Its area therefore equals half that of square on
the side AC.
 On the other hand, ΔAEC has AE and the altitude
from C equal to AM, where M is the point of
intersection of AB with the line CL parallel to AE.
 Thus the area of ΔAEC equals half that of the
rectangle AELM. Which says that the area AC² of
the square on side AC equals the area of the
rectangle AELM.
 Similarly, the are BC² of the square on side BC
equals that of rectangle BMLD. Finally, the two
rectangles AELM and BMLD make up the square
on the hypotenuse AB.
 QED
 http://www.sunsite.ubc.ca/LivingMathematics/V001N01/U
BCExamples/Pythagoras/pythagoras.html
Many Proofs of the
Pythagorean Theorem

 Area of the original square is A = c²

 Looking at the first figure, the area of the


large triangles is 4 (1/2)ab

 The area of the inner square is (b-a) ²

 Therefore the area of the original square is


A=4(1/2)ab + (b-a) ²

 This equation can be worked out as 2ab +


b² - 2ab + a² = b² + a²

 Since the square has the same area no


matter how you find it, we conclude that
A = c² = a² + b²
Pythagoras Board Game
Rules:
 To begin, roll 2 dice. The person with the highest sum goes
first.

 To move on the board, roll both dice. Substitute the


numbers on the dice into the Pythagorean Theorem for the
lengths of the legs to find the value of the length of the
hypotenuse.

 Using the Pythagorean Theorem a²+b²=c², a player moves


around the board a distance that is the integral part of c.

 For example, if a 1 and a 2 were rolled, 1²+2²=c²; 1+4=c²;


5=c²; Since c = √5 or approximately 2.236, the play moves
two spaces. Always round the value down.

 When the player lands on a ‘?’ space, a question card is


drawn. If the player answers the question correctly, he or
she can roll one die and advance the resulting number of
places.

 Each player must go around the board twice to complete


the game. A play must answer a ‘?’ card correctly to
complete the game and become a Pythagorean
References:
DeLacy, E. A. (1963). Euclid and geometry (2nd ed.).
USA: Franklin Watts, Inc.
Ericksen, D., Stasiuk, J., & Frank, M. (1995). Bringing
pythagoras to life. The Mathematics Teacher, 88(9),
744.
Gow, J. (1968). A short story of greek mathematics.
New York: Chelsea Publishing Company.
Katz, V. (1993). A history of mathematics (2nd ed.). USA:
Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
Swetz, F. J., & Kao, T. I. (1977). Was pythagoras chinese?
an examination of right triangle theory in ancient
china. USA: The Pennsylvania State University.
Veljan, D. (2000). The 2500-year-old pythagorean
theorem. Mathematics Magazine, 73(4), 259.
THANK YOU

THE END

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