Pythagorean theorem Pythagoras personally, [...] one can safely assume that it belongs to the very oldest period of Pythagorean mathematics." Around 400 BC, according to Proclus, Plato gave a method for finding Pythagorean triples that combined algebra and geometry. Around 300 BC, in Euclid's "Elements", the oldest extant axiomatic proof of the theorem is presented. Pythagorean theorem In mathematics, the Pythagorean theorem, also known as Pythagoras' theorem, is a fundamental relation in Euclidean geometry among the three sides of a right triangle. It states that the square of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of
Pythagorean theorem used as a triangle "C" on its hypotenuse, and two similar right triangles ("A" and "B" ) constructed on the other two sides, formed by dividing the central triangle by its altitude. The sum of the areas of the two smaller triangles therefore is that of the third, thus "A" + "B" = "C" and reversing the above logic leads to the Pythagorean theorem a + b = c. ("See also Einstein's proof by dissection without rearrangement") The Pythagorean theorem is a special case of the more general theorem relating the lengths of sides in any triangle, the law of