Title: Pythagorean Theorum
1Pythagorean Theorum
2The Pythagorean theorem has its name derived from
the ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras (569
BC-500 BC). Pythagoras is said to be the first
man to offer a proof of the theorem. Although the
credit goes to him, people had noticed the
special relationship between the sides of a right
triangle long before Pythagoras.
History of the Pythagorean Theorem
3 A Chinese astronomical and mathematical treatise
called Chou Pei Suan Ching, translated as, The
Arithmetical Classic of the Gnomon and the
Circular Paths of Heaven, possibly predated
Pythagoras and gives a statement of and
geometrical demonstration of the Pythagorean
theorem.
Chinese did it even before Pythagoras
4When a triangle contains a right angle (90), and
squares are made on each of thethree sides, then
the biggest square has the exact same area as the
other two squares put together!
The Right Triangle and Surrounding Squares
5The Pythagorean theorem 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, or, in mathematical
terms, for the triangle shown at right, a2 b2
c2. Integers that satisfy the conditions a2
b2 c2 are called "Pythagorean triples."
Pythagorean Theorem Formula
c
a
b