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(hypotenuse)2=(base)2+(altitude)2
This theorem is probably the most important in all of geometry. It was probably of great importance in building the pyramids.Alternately we can write:
c2=b2+a2
where base and altitude refer to the two perpendicular sides of a right triangle (one with a 90 degree angle)It should be noted that in 3 or more dimensions the Pythagorean theorem takes the form
l2=δx2+δy2+δz2+δu2+....
where l is the distance between the starts and ends of connected segments δx etc in the (x,y,z,w,...) coordinate system.