Can you decipher the relationship between the sides of this right-angled triangle? In the triangle, two sides touch the right angle. These are the rectangular sides a and b. The slanting, longest side is c. The theorem of the Greek mathematician Pythagoras says that a² + b² = c². Or simply a x a + b x b = c x c.
Suppose side a = 3 cm. And side b = 4 cm. You then first multiply 3 x 3, which is 9. Then you multiply 4 x 4, which is 16.
9 + 16 = 25. That means c x c is 25 cm. So c = 5 cm, because 5 x 5 = 25.
If you know how long a and b are, you also know how long c is.
Hmm… a x a is also used to calculate the area of a square. This means that you can also prove the theorem by making squares with the sides! If you spin the wheel, you will see that the area of the largest square is equal to the sum of the areas of the 2 small squares.
