How many ways are there to prove the Pythagorean theorem? - Betty Fei

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What do Euclid,twelve-year-old Einstein,and American President James Garfield have in common?They all came up with elegant proofs for the famous Pythagorean theorem,the rule that says for a right triangle,the square of one side plus the square of the other sideis equal to the square of the hypotenuse.In other words, a²+b²=c².This statement is one of the most fundamental rules of geometry,and the basis for practical applications,like constructing stable buildings and triangulating GPS coordinates.The theorem is named for Pythagoras,a Greek philosopher and mathematician in the 6th century B.C.,but it was known more than a thousand years earlier.A Babylonian tablet from around 1800 B.C. lists 15 sets of numbersthat satisfy the theorem.Some historians specula...