Explain how that the first person figured out how to use square roots to find the hipotenuse of a Triangle? Man I hope that the spelling is right?
2006-09-02 11:10:35 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
I am after the logic behind it?
2006-09-02 11:11:30 · update #1
I'm assuming that you already have two sides so...
The formula is a^2 + b^2 = c^2 with a and b being the sides and c being the hypotneuse.
3^2 + 4^2 = c^2
9 + 16 = c^2
25 = c^2
√25 = √c^2
5 = c
Note: This only works for RIGHT triangles! (triangles with 90 degree angles)
Hope this helps.
2006-09-02 11:22:20 · answer #1 · answered by blizzardinjuly19 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Pythagoras, a Greek mathematician devised his Theorem 3,000 years ago. It says that the square of the hypotenuse of a right angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. The hypotenuse is the longest side. If you consider the classic 3, 4, 5 triangle you get
3 x 3 = 9
4 x 4 = 16
9 + 16 = 25
5 x 5 = 25.
This is true of all right angled triangles but remember that it is a 'Theorem' which is, technically, an idea that seems to be correct for all situations, but hasn't been proved for an infinite number of triangles. In practice though we do know that his Theorem works in every case.
How he devised it no-one knows but imagine a rectangle measuring three inches by four inches. Perhaps he had such a shape and cut it diagonally then measured the length of the longest side. This would be 5 inches. As a mathematician he would be familiar with squared numbers and probably tried the experiment with other rectangles. Thus the Theorem was born.
2006-09-02 18:23:31 · answer #2 · answered by quatt47 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They made tables of numbers. Like 1^2 = 1; 1.1^2 = 1.21, and so on and then went from right to left on the table to get the square root.
2006-09-02 18:15:54 · answer #3 · answered by Speedy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sir Dorkus of Mulberry
2006-09-02 18:22:23 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I think Pythagoras used geometry to derive and prove the proposition. He drew squares on each side and proved it from there.
2006-09-02 18:16:04 · answer #5 · answered by Robert A 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do you mean Pythagoras’ Theorem? He didn't actually discover it, just set out the proof.
Some more info on the link below if you are interested.
2006-09-02 18:20:27 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It based on the Pythagorean theorem
Perhaps you should read these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_theorem
http://jwilson.coe.uga.edu/EMT669/Student.Folders/Morris.Stephanie/EMT.669/Essay.1/Pythagorean.html
2006-09-02 18:16:06 · answer #7 · answered by Jay T 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋