Pythagoras Theorem Notes: Pythagoras Theorem

Hi everyone!! Okay, before we start on with this topic, lets look at a brief history about Pythagoras theorem.

Years ago, a man named Pythagoras found an amazing fact about triangles:

If the triangle had a right angle (90 o ) and you made a square on each of the three sides, then the biggest square had the exact same area as the other two squares when put together.

But, what does Pythagoras meant when he said that????

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Pythagoras Theorem Look at the illustration below:

Biggest Square Area= side x side = s2 = 52 = 25

Other Square Area= side x side = s2 = 42 = 16

Other Square Area= side x side = s2 = 32 =9

Do you notice that the area of the biggest square is equal to the sum of the other two squares? i.e. Area of Biggest square = 25 Sum of two other squares = 16 + 9 = 25 SAME!!!

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Pythagoras Theorem

This is actually referred to Pythagoras Theorem and it can be written in one short equation as follow:

a +b =c

c2

Where, c is the longest side of the triangle and it is referred to as the hypotenuse a and b are the other two sides

So the real definition of Pythagoras Theorem is, In a right angle triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. Teacherwanee.wordpress.com Page 3

Pythagoras Theorem How is this useful to us??? Or what is the use of Pythagoras Theorem?? 1) You can use Pythagoras Theorem to find any missing side. - If we know the lengths of two sides of a right angled triangle, we can find the length of the third side. - But please bear in mind, Pythagoras Theorem is only applicable on right angled triangles!! - This is when ALGEBRA comes in action!! - Look at the example below:

c 5

12

a2+b2=c2 5 2 + 12 2 = c 2 25 + 144 = c 2 169 = c 2 c 2 = 169 c = 169 c = 13

2) You can use Pythagoras Theorem to prove that a triangle is a right angled triangle - As long as the triangle follows this equation : c2=a2+b2 - Example: Is this triangle a right angled triangle? Does c 2 = a 2 + b 2 ? 26 24 10 c 2 = 26 2 = 676 a 2 + b 2 = 10 2 + 24 2 = 100 + 576 = 676 They are equal, so YES IT IS A RIGHT ANGLED TRIANGLE Teacherwanee.wordpress.com Page 4