Pythagorus - stuck on homework

[smartyparts]

My Y8 ds has got to come up with a Pythagorus theorem other than the 'square of the hypotenuse is equal to the square of the other two sides on a right angled triangle'. I have no clue and nor does he.

Any clever types able to help?

[Goblinchild]

Pythagoras was also credited with devising the tetractys, the triangular figure of four rows, which add up to the perfect number, ten. As a mystical symbol, it was very important to the worship of the Pythagoreans, who would swear oaths by it:
And the inventions were so admirable, and so divinised by those who understood them, that the members used them as forms of oath: "By him who handed to our generation the tetractys, source of the roots of ever-flowing nature."
?Iamblichus, Vit. Pyth.

users.ucom.net/~vegan/images/tetractys.gif

Something like this?

[Goblinchild]

You could link it to an investigation of triangular numbers, differences and patterns.

[smartyparts]

Blimey! That's marvellous, thanks!

Have copied and pasted just your text and e-mailed it to dh, so he'll now think I'm terribly clever

[worldgonecrazy]

I'm not clear whether you mean another completely different theorem by Pythagorus (think he had a couple of others but would have to google), or whether your son is supposed to express the theorem in a different way?
So a2=b2+c^2 where a is the hypotenuse (can't find how to do squared signs but hope that makes sense)
If we make c the subject of the equation it becomes c=square root of (a2+b2)

[Goblinchild]

My pleasure. Google is my lover.

[smartyparts]

I'm known as a wiz on google, but it flummoxed me!

No, worldgonecrazy - a completely different theorem