Pythagorean Triples Essay

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History of the Pythagorean Triples The three sides of a right triangle always fit the form of a²+b²=c² with c being the length of the hypotenuse. This fact was named after Pythagoras (570-495 BC) and called the Pythagorean Theorem and has been proven over and over again over the years since. A set of numbers that fit the form are called a “Pythagorean Triple.” There are literally hundreds of proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem. In her 1968 book, “The Pythagorean Proposition,” Elisha Scott Loomis gives 370 of them, even a unique one by United States President James Garfield. There have been geometrical proofs where triangles are moved to form squares or a trapezoid in the case of President Garfield, algebraic proofs using the lengths and areas of triangles, and differential proofs using calculus. Euclid first found that a single formula could generate Pythagorean Triple. The formula he gave in Book 10 of his Elements, postulate 29 is: a=m²-n² b=2mn c=m²+n² As long as m>n, m and n have no common factors, and one of them is odd, this formula will generate unique Triples. In fact, this formula combined with multiples of the Triples that it generates will give all possible triples. Since there are an infinite number of pairs of such m and n values, this proves that there are an infinite number of such Triples. A simple pattern in the set of Pythagorean Triples is if a is odd, then b = (a²-1)/2 and c=(a²+1)/2. If a=3 then b=(9-1)/2=4 and c=(9+1)/2=5. 3²+4²=5² → 9+16=25 If a=5, b=(25-1)/2=12 and c=(25+1)/2=13. 5²+12²=13² → 25 + 144 = 169 a=7, b=(49-1)/2=24 and c=(49+1)/2. 7²+24²=25² → 49 + 576 = 625 a=9, b=(81-1)/2=40 and c=(81+1)/2=41. 9²+40²=41² → 81+1600=1681 a=11, b=(121-1)/2=60 and c=(121+1)/2=61. 11²+60²=61² → 121+3600=3721 a=13, b=(169-1)/2=84 and c=(169+1)/2=85. 13²+84²=85² → 169+7056=7225 Since there are an infinite number of

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