New Pythagorean Theorem Proof: From Two New Orleans High Schoolers!
If you'd like more details on how Calcea Johnson's and Ne’Kiya Jackson's proof works, you can check out this video: • Pythagoras Would Be Proud: High School Stu... .
Jackson's and Johnson's accomplishment isn't just cool 'cause they're in high school. It's also relatively difficult to come up with trigonometric proofs of the Pythagorean theorem, as theirs (mostly) is.
Check out the main channel @polymathematic !
The reason for that difficulty is that a lot of trigonometric identities and theorems are based on what's called the Pythagorean identity: sin²x + cos²x = 1. As you might imagine from the name, the Pythagorean identity comes from the Pythagorean theorem, making any proof that relies on it circular. Johnson and Jackson cleverly avoid this by using the Law of Sines instead, along with a clever shape they call the "waffle cone". If you'd like to play with the waffle cone, I've made this Desmos graph: https://www.desmos.com/calculator/tyw....
#pythagoreantheorem #pythagoras #impossibleproof #highschool
Follow Tim Ricchuiti:
TikTok: / polymathematic
Mathstodon: https://mathstodon.xyz/@polymathematic
Instagram: / polymathematicnet
Reddit: / polymath-matic
Facebook: / polymathematic
Watch more Math Videos:
Math Minis: • Math Mini
Math Minutes: • Math Minutes
Number Sense: • Number Sense (UIL / PSIA)
MATHCOUNTS: • MATHCOUNTS