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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.
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.
The area of a triangle can be demonstrated, for example by means of the congruence of triangles, as half of the area of a parallelogram that has the same base length and height. A graphic derivation of the formula T = h 2 b {\displaystyle T={\frac {h}{2}}b} that avoids the usual procedure of doubling the area of the triangle and then halving it.
The legs and hypotenuse of a right triangle satisfy the Pythagorean theorem: the sum of the areas of the squares on two legs is the area of the square on the hypotenuse, + =. If the lengths of all three sides of a right triangle are integers, the triangle is called a Pythagorean triangle and its side lengths are collectively known as a ...
In this example, the triangle's side lengths and area are integers, making it a Heronian triangle. However, Heron's formula works equally well when the side lengths are real numbers. As long as they obey the strict triangle inequality, they define a triangle in the Euclidean plane whose area is a positive real number.
To calculate a Pythagorean triple, take any term of this sequence and convert it to an improper fraction (for mixed number , the corresponding improper fraction is ). Then its numerator and denominator are the sides, b and a, of a right triangle, and the hypotenuse is b + 1. For example:
The spiral is started with an isosceles right triangle, with each leg having unit length.Another right triangle (which is the only automedian right triangle) is formed, with one leg being the hypotenuse of the prior right triangle (with length the square root of 2) and the other leg having length of 1; the length of the hypotenuse of this second right triangle is the square root of 3.
The formulas show how to transform any right triangle with integer legs into another right triangle with integer legs whose hypotenuse is the square of the first triangle's hypotenuse. A Pythagorean prime is a prime number of the form 4 n + 1 {\displaystyle 4n+1} .