Pythagorean Theorem Problems

In this last section we present a few problems that require the

use of the Pythagorean Theorem. Try to resolve as many
problems as you can.
1) The Pythagoras Proof:
This is a hands-on exercise for you to convince yourself that
the Pythagorean theorem works. It is based on the actual proof
that is attributed to Pythagoras. On the following gure we
have a right triangle with a square associated with each of its
sides!
"sing the dimensions associated with the three sides# calculate
the area of each of the squares. Then make sure that the area
of the hypotenuse$s square %brown& equals the areas of the
other two squares together.
'ow for the hands on part. (raw an equivalent picture on a
piece of paper. )ou can use any si*e triangle as long as it is a
right triangle. +ut up and reassemble the two small squares to
form a square identical to the larger one.
2) The classical ladder problem:
There is a building with a ,- ft high window. )ou want to use a
ladder to go up to the window# and you decide to keep the
ladder . ft away from the building to have a good slant. /ow
long should the ladder be0
3) Baseball diamond:
On a baseball diamond the bases are 12 ft apart. 3hat is the
distance from home plate to second base in a straight line0
4) Equilateral triangle!
4n equilateral triangle has vertices at %2#2& and %5#2& in a
coordinate plane. 3hat are the coordinates of the third vertex0
)ou may want to sketch it out.
'ote! The sides of an equilateral triangle are identical in
length.
) !n algebraic problem:
6ind out the length of sides a and b on the following triangle!
") !n iterati#e problem:
7ook at the following gure. 8tart by nding the value for 9
,
#
then for 9
-
# then 9
:
# and so on until you get the value for 9
5
.
3rite the lengths as square roots# as that makes it simpler.
3hat is the value of 9
5
0
$) ! 3% problem:
3e have a wooden box that measures ; ft. by : ft. by - ft.!
6igure out! 3hat is the longest straight pole# like the red one#
that you can have inside the box0
&) Pythagorean Triples:
The Pythagorean Triples were described with Tip number ,.
/ere we will describe a method to generate all of the
Pythagorean Triples. There is a simple formula that gives all the
Pythagorean triples. If m and n are two positive integers and m
< n# then the triples can be generated with the following
equations!
a = n
-
- m
-
b = -mn
c = n
-
> m
-
It$s easy to check algebraically that the sum of the squares of a
and b is the same as the square of c.
'ow try it out and produce as many triples as you can by
substituting any positive integers for m and n %as long as m <
n&. If you know how to use a spread sheet program %like ?xcel&#
you can very quickly do a table that generates tons of triples.
'e#ie( of the )ecessary Basic
*oncepts
)ou may be familiar with some of the concepts presented in
this and the next page# allowing you to go through them very
quickly. /owever# I hope that you will nd some interesting
concepts.
!ngles and Triangles --
7et$s rst dene an angle. 3hen two lines intersect in a point#
called a @vertex@# the circular span between the lines is called
an angle. The following gure shows the angle n between the
lines 4 and A!
The si*e of the angle n describes how open or closed the lines
are in a circular way. The unit measuring the si*e of an angle is
called a degree# and the symbol is used to indicate degrees.
/ow big are the degrees0 4 full circle of rotation has :52 %as
dened by the ancient Breeks&. /alf a circle has ,C2# and half
of that# or a quarter of a circle has 12. The following gure
shows a perfect 12 angle between the lines 4 and A!
'ote the small black square between the lines. That special
symbol is used to indicate a perfect 12 degree angle# also
called a right angle.
'ow let$s dene a triangle. 4 triangle is a geometric gure
consisting of three points or vertices which are connected with
straight line segments called sides. 3hen one of the angles of
a triangle is a right angle# we call that a right triangle# as
shown in this gure!
The letters a# b# and c are normally used to refer to the three
sides of a triangle. The letter a stands for altitude and b for
base. The c is typically used for the third side# called the
hypotenuse. Aoth sides a and b can be switchedD however# the
hypotenuse is always the longest side -- the side opposite the
right angle# as shown in the gure.
+hat is a relationship, --
8ince you need to understand and state the relationship
between the three sides of a right triangle %that is# between a#
b# and c in the previous gure&# let$s look at an example of a
relationship. In this example we will be calculating the
perimeter or distance around the following rectangle!
To obtain the perimeter p# you need to add the lengths of the
four sides or a > b > a > b. This can be expressed in a formula
as!
p = -a > -b
This formula or equation is a relationship# in this case# between
a# b# and p. If we know the values of a and b, we can easily
calculate the perimeter p. If we know the si*e of the perimeter
and any one of the sides# we can calculate the si*e of the other
side.
8imilarly# for the triangle in which we are interested# you need
to dene a formula which when given the values of a and b,
you can calculate the value of c.
-nits --
3hat units will we use throughout this lesson0 3e could use
inches or centimetersD however# since we can$t really draw
things to an exact scale through these computer pages# we will
refer to the units simply as @units@.
.quare !reas --
3hat is an area0 It is the number of square units needed to
cover a given surface. 8uppose that you have a line and that
you want to come up with a square that measures exactly the
same as the line in both dimensions. In other words# if you
have a line that measures ; units# you want a square that
measures ; units in length and ; units in width. This is
illustrated with the following gure!
)ou could say that the square on the right corresponds to or
was derived from the line on the left. 'otice that the line
measures ; units and that the corresponding square measures
; x ; = ,5 square units %count the small squares on the red
square&. 3e can say that when you square a ; you get ,5. The
mathematical notation for this is!
;
-
= ,5
The - right next to and above the ; indicates that we must
multiply the ; by itself - times such that we have a total of -
fours# or ; x ;. If we had a . instead of the -# that would imply
multiplying ; by itself . times# or ; x ; x ; x ; x ;.
3e can also do the inverse operation. 8uppose that you start
with a square that measures -. square units# and you want to
get the line that corresponds to either of its sides %they are
both the same&. 7et$s illustrate this with the next gure!
4s you can see# we can extract the corresponding line that
measures . units. In this case we can say that when you "'-
square a -. you get a .. "'-square is not the correct word#
however. The correct word is to take the square root. 8o the
square root of -. is .. This is represented in mathematical
notation as!
which is the inverse operation of the previous one %you can
leave the - out and it still indicates a square root&.
To summari*e this concept!
E
-
= ;1
The square of E is
;1# and
The square root of ;1
is E
8ince getting the square root of a number is the inverse of
squaring a number# both operations cancel each other as in the
following two examples!
/Please note that this does not (or0 (ith negati#e
numbers1)
7et$s look at one more example to generali*e the concepts. In
this case# let$s start with a line that is made out of two
segments# one measuring a and the other measuring b. The
following gure shows the corresponding square derived from
the line or the line extracted from the square!
)ou can see that there are four diFerent areas in the square!
two perfect squares of diFerent si*es and two identical
rectangles# except for their orientation. 4 formula to express
the si*e of the square would be!
%a>b& x %a>b& = a
-
> b
-
> axb > axb
'e#ie( of a fe( more *oncepts
Triangles and 'ectangles --
Observe the following gure of a rectangle. 3hat can you tell
about the two triangles formed by the diagonal0
4re they the same si*e0 4re they right triangles0 +an you
explain it0 The answer should be pretty obvious from what
we$ve covered. 4nd a nal question# what is the area of any of
the triangles with respect to the area of the rectangle0 I hope
that it is clear to you that it is exactly half# as we have divided
the rectangle in exactly two halves. The area of the rectangle is
calculated as
a x b
so the area of each triangle would be!
.quaring Patterns --
3e will now work a little with the very interesting patterns from
the sequence of the squares of whole numbers# i.e. the
sequence of the squares of ,# -# :# ;# .. . . . Two things that
you should get out of this exercise are!
becoming familiar with the squares sequence %i.e.# ,# ;# 1#
,5# etc.&# and
an ability to quickly relate a number with its square or a
square number with its square root.
3e start with a square with a side that measures , unit and
has an area of , x , = , square units!
The square for the next si*e needs a side that measures -
units. 8o we add to the original one# one pink square to the
right# one pink one below# and a purple one on the lower right
corner to get!
This one has an area of - x - = ; square units. The next si*e
up needs a side that measures : units. 8o we add to the
previous one# two pink squares to the right# two pink ones
below# and again one purple one on the lower right corner.
/ere is the next square that has an area of 1 square units!
Ay following the same pattern we can get the next square in
the sequence that has an area of ,5 square units!
'ow let$s put a square growth table together!
/!)
Pin0
.quar
es to
add
/B)
Total
.quar
es to
!dd
/*)
.i2
e
of
.id
e
/%)
.i2e
of
!re
a
/E)
!rea 3ncrease #s4
Pre#ious
-- -- , , --
- : - ; :
; . : 1 .
5 E ; ,5 E
7et$s make sure that you understand the table. 3e start with a
square with a side of si*e ,. To go to the next one# i.e.# to the
line with the square with a side of si*e -# we add two pink
squares plus the one in the corner for a total of : squares. The
area of this square is ;. The area increased by %; - ,& = :
square units as compared to the rst square.
I am sure that you have no trouble seeing the pattern in
columns 4# A and ?. Aut can you see how to get the number in
column A based on the number in the + column of the previous
row0 That is# how can you get the . from the -# or the E from
the :0 Try to gure that out. I suggest that you get a piece of
paper %or you can do it in a computer program& and complete
this table until you get to -2 in column %+&.

)ote for the Teachers
Brade 7evels!
5
th
to C
th
8ummary!
This lesson provides hints for students to discover the
Pythagorean Theorem on their own. It also includes a review of
all the essential material that they will need to succeed.
ObGectives!
The students should gain a deeper understanding and a more rewarding experience by guring out the
theorem by themselves.
Haterials!
'one other than access to a computer and pencil and paper.
Procedure!
The maGority of the books that I$ve seen# the websites that
I have visited# and the lessons that I have been exposed to
start by giving you the Pythagorean Theorem. Then they either
go through geometric or algebraic demonstrations or actual
proofs of the theorem. Then they go into basic exercises andIor
word problems.
This lesson is intended for the students to work completely on
their own and it provides all they need for them to gure out
the theorem and make sure that they understand it. The
material review sections on themselves are worthwhile. The
lesson also gives them a historical perspective of both
Pythagoras and the Theorem and nishes by exposing the
students to interesting problems. 4nswers for all the problems
are available but you need a key to access them. Just ask me
for it and I$ll send it to you right away.
4 template with the basic gures used in three of the @tips@ is
provided. It can be printed out# the gures cut out# and the
students can actually follow a hands-on approach for the tips
I hope that you use this lesson with your students and I
welcome your feedback.