Pythagorean Triples Essay

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MAT 126: Survey of Mathematical Methods Week 4 Pythagorean Triples The term Pythagorean triples is derived from the Pythagorean Theorem[i] where the formula to figure out the sides of a right triangle is constant with a2 + b2 = c2. The exception to the triples is that all sides will be positive integers[ii]. I will show you 5 examples of the Pythagorean Triples. Remembering that all your numbers need to be a positive integer, you can’t use just any numbers into the equations. The equation is set up as a2 + b2 = c2. To figure out what numbers are used that make up a triple; you can use the following simple formula starting with the lowest numbers. Those numbers are as follows: 32 + 42 = 52 Verify = 3 x 3 = 9 4 x 4 = 16 5 x 5 = 25 9 + 16 = 25, square root of 25 is 5. The following numbers work as a Pythagorean Triple. Using the smallest numbers as our base we can use the simple method by just doubling the numbers and we will end up with numbers that are constant with the Pythagorean Triples. Here are 5 examples: 1. 62 + 82 = 102 (6 x 6) + (8 x 8) = 10 x 10 36 + 64 = 100 Square root of 100 is 10. 2. 122 + 162 = 202 (12 x 12) + (16 x 16) = 20 x 20 144 + 256 = 400 Square root of 400 is 20. 3. 242 + 322 = 402 (24 x 24) + (32 x 32) = 40 x 40 576 + 1,024 = 1600 Square root of 1,600 is 40. 4. 482 + 642 = 802 (48 x 48) + (64 x 64) = 80 x 80 2,304 + 4,096 = 6400 Square root of 6400 is 80. 5. 962 + 1282 = 1602 (96 x 96) + (128 x 128) = 160 x 160 9,216 + 16,384 = 25,600 Square root of 25,600 is 160. As you can see, all the examples above have a positive integer in the outcome. In my examples, I just doubled the last set of numbers.

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