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
Triangle inequality ≥ b ≥ c" and "formula_8" is the golden ratio, as In the case of right triangles, the triangle inequality specializes to the statement that the hypotenuse is greater than either of the two sides, and less than their sum. The second part of this theorem is already established above for any side of any triangle. The first part is established using the lower figure. In the figure, consider the right triangle . An isosceles triangle is constructed with equal sides . From the triangle postulate, the angles in the right triangle satisfy: Likewise, in the isosceles triangle , the