Pythagorean theorem straightedge and compass. Pythagoras's theorem enables construction of incommensurable lengths because the hypotenuse of a triangle is related to the sides by the square root operation. The figure on the right shows how to construct line segments whose lengths are in the ratio of the square root of any positive integer. Each triangle has a side (labeled "1") that is the chosen unit for measurement. In each right triangle, Pythagoras's theorem establishes the length of the hypotenuse in terms of this unit. If a hypotenuse is related to the unit by the square root of a positive integer that is
Pythagorean theorem opposite the right angle corner is the sum of the squares of the areas of the other three faces. This result can be generalized as in the ""n"-dimensional Pythagorean theorem": This statement is illustrated in three dimensions by the tetrahedron in the figure. The "hypotenuse" is the base of the tetrahedron at the back of the figure, and the "legs" are the three sides emanating from the vertex in the foreground. As the depth of the base from the vertex increases, the area of the "legs" increases, while that of the base is fixed. The theorem suggests that when this