The longest side of the triangle is called the “hypotenuse”, so the formal definition is: In a right angled triangle: the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.
Let’s see if it really works using an example.
Example: A “3,4,5” triangle has a right angle in it.
Let’s check if the areas are the same:
32 + 42 = 52
Calculating this becomes:
9 + 16 = 25
It works … like Magic!
Why Is This Useful?
If we know the lengths of two sides of a right angled triangle, we can find the length of the third side. (But remember it only works on right angled triangles!)
How Do I Use it?
Write it down as an equation:
Now you can use algebra to find any missing value, as in the following examples:
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.