Created over 2000 years ago by the Greek mathematician Pythagoras, Pythagoras\u2019 Theorem tells us how the three sides in a right-angled triangle are related. The ancient Greeks worked with lines and area rather that numbers and equations, so the theorem would have been expressed verbally and geometrically.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe area of a square constructed using the longest side of a right angled triangle is the sum of the areas of the squares formed from the other two sides\u201d.<\/p>\n
Or more likely found in school maths books as<\/p>\n
The square on the hypotenuse of a right angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Which is why a lot of adults might remember it as something to do with hippopotamuses<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until more recent times that we arrived at the famous algebraic equation that every school student will be familiar with:<\/p>\n c\u00b2 = a\u00b2 + b\u00b2<\/p>\n Where c<\/em> is the length of the hypotenuse (the longest side), a<\/em> and b<\/em> are the lengths of the other two sides, and the small raised 2 means \u2018square\u2019.<\/p>\n Pythagoras\u2019 Theorem makes the connection between geometry and algebra, allowing us to calculate distance in terms of coordinates. It also inspired Trigonometry and so is a useful formula frequently used in architecture, navigation, surveying and in more recently is incorporated in the best current theories of space, time and gravity.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>