Among the many mathematical formulas discovered by the ancient
Greeks, perhaps the best known is the Pythagorean Theorem: Given a right
triangle with hypotenuse of length c and sides of length a
and b, c2
= a2 + b2 (See Figure
7.4).
Figure 7.4: Pythagorean Theorem
In many elementary mathematics textbooks, this theorem is used as a
context for introducing squares and square roots. In
general, introductions of this sort focus on Pythagorean Triples, sets of
whole numbers {a, b, c} for which c2 = a2 + b2.
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