math - Carolyn, Friday, October 19, 2007 at 2:38pm
determine wheter 120,160, and 200 form a pythagorean triple.
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PythagoreanTriple.html
To determine whether 120, 160, and 200 form a Pythagorean triple, we need to apply the Pythagorean theorem. The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. In other words, if a^2 + b^2 = c^2, where a and b are the lengths of the two legs and c is the length of the hypotenuse, then it forms a Pythagorean triple.
So, we need to check whether 120, 160, and 200 satisfy this equation. Let's substitute the values into the equation:
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
120^2 + 160^2 = 200^2
14400 + 25600 = 40000
40000 = 40000
Since the equation is satisfied, 120, 160, and 200 do form a Pythagorean triple.