Pythagorean Theorem
As found on www.cut-the-knot.com
President Garfield’s Proof
Reproduced By
Jonathan Ondrejko
This proof uses the
formula for the area
of a trapezoid.
ab/2 + ab/2 + c•c/2
b
But if this
looked
at another
Half issum
of the
way… bases
you can
use the
the areas of
times
a
the three
triangles.
altitude.
Then the area of two
triangles…
c
(a+b)(a+b)/2= c•c/2
This is simplified to
(a+b)/2 • (a+b)
c
b
a
c2 = a2 + b2