The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. It was invented by the ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras. The theorem can be used to calculate the unknown side of a right triangle if two sides are known. It works because the areas of the squares formed on the sides are related in a consistent way for any right triangle.

1. What is the Pythagorean Theorem?

2. Who was Pythagoras? Pythagoras was an Ancient Greek mathematician. He invented the Pythagorean Theorem

3. The definition of Pythagorean Theorem The definition of the Pythagorean Theorem is A 2 + B 2 = C 2 . That means on a right angle triangle the Altitude (A) squared, added to the base (B) squared is equal to the hypotenuse (C) squared. A B C

4. Why does the Pythagorean Theorem work? The Pythagorean theorem works because if you look at the picture, you will see these squares just outside the triangle. The square for A and B are smaller the C. To get these squares you would just square the length the side.

5. Questions without the hypotenuse To calculate questions with out the hypotenuse, you simply square the base and height then take that number and calculate the square root of that number. A 10 cm 12 cm

6. Answers to questions without the hypotenuse A 2 +B 2 =C 2 12 2 +10 2 =C 2 144+100=C 2 244=C 2 244 square root = 15.62 (rounded) 12 cm 10 cm A

7. Questions without the base or altitude To calculate questions with out the base or altitude, you simply take the numbers you do know and solve like an algebra question. Much the same when solving for the hypotenuse. 8 cm B 10 cm

8. Answers to questions without the base or altitude A 2 +B 2 =C 2 8 2 +B 2 =10 2 64+B 2 =100 164=B 2 164 square root = 12.81 (rounded) 10 cm 8 cm B