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
Acute and obtuse triangles according to This implies that the longest side in an obtuse triangle is the one opposite the obtuse-angled vertex. An acute triangle has three inscribed squares, each with one side coinciding with part of a side of the triangle and with the square's other two vertices on the remaining two sides of the triangle. (In a right triangle two of these are merged into the same square, so there are only two distinct inscribed squares.) However, an obtuse triangle has only one inscribed square, one of whose sides coincides with part of the longest side of the triangle. All triangles