PYTHAGORAS THEOREM
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INTRODUCTION
 The Pythagorean Theorem is one of the oldest, most well-known, and widely used mathematical
relationship in history. It has been a fundamental part of math classes everywhere around the world for
several thousand years.
First described by the Greek mathematician Pythagoras 2500 years ago, the Pythagorean Theorem describes
the relationship between the three sides of a right triangle.

In any right triangle, the hypotenuse h is the longest side. The three sides are related in such a way that if
you square the length of the hypotenuse, you will get the same answer as you do when you square each of
the other two sides, and add the values together.
h2 = a2 + b2 For example, consider the triangle at the right. It has a 90 degree angle, and when you measure
its sides, the lengths are 3, 4, & 5 cm.
The Pythagorean Theorem says that the three sides must follow this rule:
52 = 32 + 42 It works, as you can see:
25 = 9 + 16    
The Pythagorean Theorem can also be expressed a different way. If you draw the triangle with squares on
each side, it would look like this:

The theorem tells us that 52 = 32 + 42. This is equivalent to stating that the area of the square on the
hypotenuse is equal to the areas of the squares on the other two sides, added together.
Or, in other words, 25 = 9 + 16
Pythagoras theorem history part1
 The Pythagorean theorem plays a significant role in many fields related to mathematics.
For example, it forms the basis of trigonometry, and in its arithmetic form, it combines
both to geometry and algebra. The theorem is a relation in Euclidean geometry among
the three sides of a right triangle. It states that 'the sum of the squares of the lengths of the
two other sides of any right triangle will equal the square of the length of the hypotenuse'.

Mathematically, the theorem is usually written as: a2 + b2 = c2 - where a and b represent

the lengths of the two other sides of the triangle and c represents the length of the
hypotenuse.

History

The history of the Pythagorean theorem can be divided as: knowledge of Pythagorean
triples, the relationship among the sides of a right triangle and their adjacent angles, and
the proofs of the theorem. Around 4000 years ago, the Babylonians and the Chinese were
aware of the fact that a triangle with the sides of 3, 4 and 5 must be a right triangle. They
used this concept to construct right angles and designed a right triangle by dividing a
long string into twelve equal parts, such that one side of the triangle is three, the second
side is four and the third side is five sections long.
Pythagoras theorem history part 2
 Around 2500 BC, the Megalithic monuments in Egypt and Northern Europe comprised of right
triangles with integer sides. Bartel Leendert van der Waerden hypothesizes that the Pythagorean
triples were identified algebraically. During the reign of Hammurabi the Great (1790 – 1750 BC), the
Mesopotamian tablet Plimpton 32 consisted of many entries closely related to Pythagorean triples. In
India (8th - 2nd century BC), the Baudhayana Sulba Sutra comprised of a list of Pythagorean triples, a
statement of the theorem and the geometrical proof of the theorem for an isosceles right triangle.

Pythagoras (569–475 BC), used algebraic methods to construct Pythagorean triples. According to Sir
Thomas L. Heath, there was no ascription of the theorem for nearly five centuries after Pythagoras
lived. However, authors like Plutarch and Cicero attributed the theorem to Pythagoras in such a way
that the attribution was widely known and accepted. In 400 BC, Plato established a method for
finding Pythagorean triples which blended both algebra and geometry. Around 300 BC, in the Euclid's
Elements, the oldest existing axiomatic proof of the theorem is presented. The Chinese text Chou Pei
Suan Ching written between 500 BC and 200 AD had the visual proof of the Pythagorean theorem or
'Gougu theorem' (as known in China) for the (3,4,5) triangle. During the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220
AD), the Pythagorean triples appear in the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art along with the
mention of the right triangles. The first recorded use of the theorem was in China as 'Gougu theorem',
and in India as the 'Bhaskara theorem'.

However, it is not yet confirmed whether Pythagoras was the first person to have found the
relationship between the sides of the right triangles, as no texts written by him were found.
Nevertheless, the theorem has still got his name credited to it
PYTHAGORAS THEOREM METHODS
 The Pythagorean theorem, stating that the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the sides in a
right triangle, is a fundamental concept in geometry and trigonometry.
 There are many, many ways to prove the Pythagorean theorem.
 This is what I think to be an interesting proof, by the use of two circles. It is number 89 in Loomis’s book.
 Starting with a right triangle, we draw two circles:
 Here, is right, and A and B are the centers of circles and respectively.
 Now we draw some additional lines, extending AB to F and G:
 In this diagram, we can prove that :
 is right. This is an application of Thales’ theorem since DG is a diameter.
 is right. This is given.
 . Since , .
 . This is because BC and BG are both radii of and is isosceles.
 .
 . The two triangles have two shared angles: and .
 In a similar way, we can prove that .
 The rest of the proof is algebraic rather than geometric. Let’s call the side AC to be b, BC=a, and AB=c.
 From the similar triangles, we have the following ratios:
 (or, )
 (or, )
 Adding the two equations, we get:
 The line BF can be split into AF and AB which is equal to c+b since AF = AC.
 The line EB can be considered the difference between AB and AE, which is equal to c-b.
 Similarly, AG = AB+BG = c+a, and AD = AB-DB = c-a. By substitution:
 This is the two circles method of proving pythagorean theorem
Pythagoras theorem problems
Word problems using the Pythagorean theorem require you to draw or imagine a right triangle where two of the sides are of
known length. When solving these problems, remember the following:
The diagonal across a rectangle creates two congruent right triangles.
The angle between two walls, and the angle between the floor and a wall, is usually a right angle.
Example 1: TV Screen Width
You want to purchase a 30" television. You know that TV and monitor screens are measured across the diagonal, and you also
know that this screen is 18" high. How wide is the screen horizontally?
How to solve:
The TV screen is a rectangle, and the diagonal is 30". The screen's height and width make up two legs of a right triangle with the
diagonal as the hypotenuse. The problem gives us the length of the hypotenuse and one of the legs. Therefore, name the height
a, the width b, and the diagonal c. Add these values to the formula and solve for b:
18² + b² = 30²
324 + b² = 900
Subtract 324 from both sides:
b² = 576
Now find the square root of both sides to solve for b (use a calculator to find the square root of large numbers). The square root
of 576 is 24.
Answer:
The screen is 24" wide.
 Pythagoras (560BC - 480BC)
He was a Greek philosopher who was
responsible for important developments
PYTHOGARAS in the history of mathematics,
astronomy, and the theory of music.
He travelled widely in his youth with his
father Mnesarchus, who was a gem
merchant from Tyre. His family settled
in the homeland of his mother, Pythais,.

In Astronomy Pythagoras taught that the

Earth was a sphere at the centre of the
universe. He recognized that the orbit of
the moon was inclined to the equator of
the earth, and he was one of the first to
realize that Venus as an evening star, was
the same planet as the morning star. He
taught that the movements of the
planets travelling through the universe
created sounds, and could be perceived
by those who were trained to hear them.
This music of the spheres could be
replicated using a single stringed
instrument called the monochord.
Pythagoras theorem images