Pythagoras triangle the square of the hypotenuse is equal [to the sum of] the squares of the two other sides"—that is, formula_1. According to a popular legend, after he discovered this theorem, Pythagoras sacrificed an ox, or possibly even a whole "hecatomb", to the gods. Cicero rejected this story as spurious because of the much more widely held belief that Pythagoras forbade blood sacrifices. Porphyry attempted to explain the story by asserting that the ox was actually made of dough. The Pythagorean theorem was known and used by the Babylonians and Indians centuries before Pythagoras, but it is possible that he
Right triangle Right triangle A right triangle (American English) or right-angled triangle (British English) is a triangle in which one angle is a right angle (that is, a 90-degree angle). The relation between the sides and angles of a right triangle is the basis for trigonometry. The side opposite the right angle is called the "hypotenuse" (side "c" in the figure). The sides adjacent to the right angle are called "legs" (or "catheti", singular: "cathetus"). Side "a" may be identified as the side "adjacent to angle B" and "opposed to" (or "opposite") "angle A", while side "b" is the side "adjacent to