2. PYTHAGORAS and the Pythagorean theorem

3. Today you should be able to answer these questions… Who was Pythagoras? What was important about his life? Why was he famous? What is the Pythagorean theorem? How is his theorem applied?

4. Pythagoras’s Roots and Routes Pythagoras lived from about 560 to 500 B.C. He was born on the Aegean island of Samos, but traveled to Egypt, Babylon, India, and Syria to further his studies. Eventually, he settled in the Greek colony of Croton in Southern Italy.

5. Birthplace of Pythagoras Other Places Pyhtagoras Visited: Babylon India

6. It was here that Pythagoras studied the pyramids to learn more about geometry. His studies helped him to develop his theorem. Egypt

7. India Because of his time spent in India, Pythagoras adopted the Hindu belief that souls transmigrate after death.

8. Important Contributions He believed that the earth was spherical and that the sun, moon, and planets have movements of their own. This contributed to the discovery that the earth revolved around the sun. He’s credited with developing the Pythagorean theorem which is a formula that is used to determine the lengths of the sides of right triangles.

9. Pythagorean theorem leg² + leg² = hypotenuse² In any right triangle the sum of the squares of the lengths of two legs equals the square of the length of the hypotenuse. leg hypotenuse

10. What is a Right Triangle? A right triangle is a triangle that has a 90  angle. It has two legs and a hypotenuse. The hypotenuse is the side opposite the right angle and is always the longest. leg hypotenuse