US Teens Come Up With 5 New Ways Of Proving Pythagoras Theorem Using Trigonometry

Over the years, many mathematicians have tried to prove the theorem using algebra and geometry but using trigonometry was long believed impossible

Two US college students, who discovered a new way to prove Pythagoras' famous 2,000-year-old theorem in 2022 have now come up with five different ways of solving the problem using trigonometry. Their new solutions have been published in the journal American Mathematical Monthly. The famous theorem is summarised as a2+b2=c2, which helps in finding the length of a right-angled triangle. Essentially, it means that the square of the longest side (the hypotenuse) is equal to the squares of the two shorter sides added together.

Over the years, many mathematicians have tried to prove the theorem using algebra and geometry but using trigonometry was long believed impossible. However, Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson, astonished everyone with their achievements as high school kids when they solved the problem without resorting to circular reasoning-a feat managed twice previously by professional mathematicians.

As college students, they have now breached a new frontier by not only coming up with five ways to solve the puzzle but also with a method that reveals five other proofs - totalling ten proofs altogether. Only one proof was previously presented, meaning the remaining nine are totally new.