PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM

INTRO Suppose that we have a right-angled triangle (a triangle that contains a 90o angle) as shown below, where c is the side opposite the right angle (this side c is called the hypotenuse).

The Pythagorean Theorem tells us that the lengths of the sides are related by the following formula: 2 2 2

a +b = c

_______________________________________________________________________ Example: If a right-angled triangle has one side of length 3 and one side of length 4, find the length of the hypotenuse. Solution:
a2 + b2 = c2 32 + 4 2 = c 2 9 + 16 = c 2 c 2 = 25 c=5

Therefore, the hypotenuse has a length of 5. _______________________________________________________________________