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In mathematics, the Pythagorean theorem or Pythagoras' theorem is a fundamental relation in Euclidean geometry between the three sides of a right triangle.It states that the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares on the other two sides.
A triangle whose side lengths are a Pythagorean triple is a right triangle and called a Pythagorean triangle. A primitive Pythagorean triple is one in which a, b and c are coprime (that is, they have no common divisor larger than 1). [1] For example, (3, 4, 5) is a primitive Pythagorean triple whereas (6, 8, 10) is not.
As a consequence of the Pythagorean theorem, the hypotenuse is the longest side of any right triangle; that is, the hypotenuse is longer than either of the triangle's legs. For example, given the length of the legs a = 5 and b = 12, then the sum of the legs squared is (5 × 5) + (12 × 12) = 169, the square of the hypotenuse.
There is a method to construct all Pythagorean triples that contain a given positive integer x as one of the legs of the right-angled triangle associated with the triple. It means finding all right triangles whose sides have integer measures, with one leg predetermined as a given cathetus. [13] The formulas read as follows.
Chapter 13 relates Pythagorean triangles to rational points on a unit circle, Chapter 14 discusses right triangles whose sides are unit fractions rather than integers, and Chapter 15 is about the Euler brick problem, a three-dimensional generalization of Pythagorean triangles, and related problems on integer-sided tetrahedra.
Geometrically, the square root of 2 is the length of a diagonal across a square with sides of one unit of length; this follows from the Pythagorean theorem. It was probably the first number known to be irrational. [1] The fraction 99 / 70 (≈ 1.4142857) is sometimes used as a good rational approximation with a reasonably small denominator.
Draw an equilateral triangle ABC with side length 2 and with point D as the midpoint of segment BC. Draw an altitude line from A to D. Then ABD is a 30°–60°–90° triangle with hypotenuse of length 2, and base BD of length 1. The fact that the remaining leg AD has length √ 3 follows immediately from the Pythagorean theorem.
The Pythagorean theorem was known and used by the Babylonians and Indians centuries before Pythagoras, [216] [214] [217] [218] but he may have been the first to introduce it to the Greeks. [219] [217] Some historians of mathematics have even suggested that he—or his students—may have constructed the first proof. [220]