Pythagorean theorem four elementary lemmata: Next, each top square is related to a triangle congruent with another triangle related in turn to one of two rectangles making up the lower square. The proof is as follows: This proof, which appears in Euclid's "Elements" as that of Proposition 47 in Book 1, demonstrates that the area of the square on the hypotenuse is the sum of the areas of the other two squares. This is quite distinct from the proof by similarity of triangles, which is conjectured to be the proof that Pythagoras used. We have already discussed the Pythagorean proof, which was
Proofs of Fermat's theorem on sums of two squares at least one such partition exists if formula_107 is congruent to 1 modulo 4. Proofs of Fermat's theorem on sums of two squares Fermat's theorem on sums of two squares asserts that an odd prime number "p" can be expressed as with integer "x" and "y" if and only if "p" is congruent to 1 (mod 4). The statement was announced by Girard in 1625, and again by Fermat in 1640, but neither supplied a proof. The "only if" clause is easy: a perfect square is congruent to 0 or 1 modulo 4, hence a sum of two squares is