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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.
It is the longest side of any such triangle; the two other shorter sides of such a triangle are called catheti or legs. The length of the hypotenuse can be found using the Pythagorean theorem , which states that the square of the length of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the lengths of the two legs.
The Pythagorean theorem: The sum of the areas of the two squares on the legs (a and b) equals the area of the square on the hypotenuse (c). Although Pythagoras is most famous today for his alleged mathematical discoveries, [ 132 ] [ 207 ] classical historians dispute whether he himself ever actually made any significant contributions to the field.
In this way, this trigonometric identity involving the tangent and the secant follows from the Pythagorean theorem. The angle opposite the leg of length 1 (this angle can be labeled φ = π/2 − θ) has cotangent equal to the length of the other leg, and cosecant equal to the length of the hypotenuse. In that way, this trigonometric identity ...
The top example shows a case where z is much less than the sum x + y of the other two sides, and the bottom example shows a case where the side z is only slightly less than x + y. In mathematics, the triangle inequality states that for any triangle, the sum of the lengths of any two sides must be greater than or equal to the length of the ...
Three sides (SSS) Two sides and the included angle (SAS, side-angle-side) Two sides and an angle not included between them (SSA), if the side length adjacent to the angle is shorter than the other side length. A side and the two angles adjacent to it (ASA) A side, the angle opposite to it and an angle adjacent to it (AAS).
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.
The area can be calculated by the standard formula for the area of right triangles (half the product of the two short sides) as . The cosine of the larger of the two non-right angles is the ratio of the adjacent side (the shorter of the two sides) to the hypotenuse, φ {\displaystyle \varphi } , from which it follows that the two non-right ...