An online activity to help students reason visually about the Pythagorean
Theorem.
John Golden's: homepage and javasketchpad page . This proof features 8 copies of a right triangle, arranged to make two large squares apparently of equal area. It was found on a Chinese tablet over 2000 years ago. Note there's one spot in the animation where a triangle leaps out of the square. I don't know why either!
The original Sketchpad file: pythagoreanchin.gsp
This page uses JavaSketchpad, a World-Wide-Web component of The Geometer's Sketchpad. Copyright © 1990-2001 by KCP Technologies, Inc. Licensed only for non-commercial use. Pythagoreanchinese |