Mathematics Magazine

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The Pythagorean Theorem and the Angle Sum and

Difference Identitites

Zsolt Lengvárszky

To cite this article: Zsolt Lengvárszky (2018) The Pythagorean Theorem and the
Angle Sum and Difference Identitites, Mathematics Magazine, 91:5, 380-381, DOI:
10.1080/0025570X.2018.1467670

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/0025570X.2018.1467670

Published online: 07 Dec 2018.

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380 MATHEMATICS MAGAZINE

The Pythagorean Theorem and the Angle Sum

and Difference Identitites
Z S O LT L E N G V Á R S Z K Y
Louisiana State University, Shreveport
Shreveport, LA 71115
zsolt.lengvarszky@lsus.edu

The trigonometric identities

sin(α + β ) = sin(α) cos(β ) + cos(α) sin(β )

and

cos(α − β ) = cos(α) cos(β ) + sin(α) sin(β )

each imply the Pythagorean identity and consequently the Pythagorean theorem by set-
ting α + β = π/2 and α − β = 0, respectively. Although these identities are typically
derived using the Pythagorean theorem, that is not necessary (see [3, p. 46], [5], [6],
and [8]), and circular arguments can be avoided.
Here we show how the sum and difference formulas for the tangent function,
tan(α) ± tan(β )
tan(α ± β ) = ,
1 ∓ tan(α) tan(β )
can be used to prove the Pythagorean theorem.

a c

ε α δ
E c−b C b A c D

Figure 1 Extending one side of a right triangle in two directions.

As shown in Figure 1, we extend the leg CA of the right triangle BCA beyond A by
c to get D. We have

b+c tan(β ) + tan(δ)

b
+ a b2 + bc + a2
= tan(β + δ) = = a b b+ca = ,
a 1 − tan(β ) tan(δ) 1 − a · b+c ac

and c2 = a2 + b2 follows.

Math. Mag. 91 (2018) 380–381. doi:10.1080/0025570X.2018.1467670 

C Mathematical Association of America
MSC: Primary 51M04, Secondary 00A05; 00A08
VOL. 91, NO. 5, DECEMBER 2018 381
A similar argument using the angle difference formula works when AC is extended
beyond C, giving
c−b tan(ε) − tan(β )
a
−b a2 − bc + b2
= tan(ε − β ) = = c−b a a b = ,
a 1 + tan(ε) tan(β ) 1 + c−b · a ac

and c2 = a2 + b2 follows again.

This same diagram was used by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz to give a geometric proof
of the Pythagorean theorem (see [2, Proof 53], [1], and [7]). The triangle DBE is a
right triangle with circumcircle centered at A. By the similarity of triangles BCD and
BCE, or by the power-of-a-point theorem, we have a2 = (c − b)(c + b), and thus the
Pythagorean theorem.
Note that our proof is independent of the sum and difference formulas for sine and
cosine since the sum and difference formulas for tangent have direct geometric proofs
that—unlike the typical derivations in most textbooks—do not rely on the correspond-
ing formulas for sine or cosine; see [3, p. 47] and [4].

REFERENCES
[1] Bomogolny, A. Pythagorean theorem. Proof #11. Available at: http://www.cut-the-knot.org/pythag
oras.
[2] Loomis, E. S. (1968). The Pythagorean Proposition. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics.
[3] Nelsen, R. B. (2000). Proof Without Words II: More Exercises in Visual Thinking. Washington DC: Mathe-
matical Association of America.
[4] Ren, G. (1999). Proof without words: tan(α − β ). Coll. Math. J. 30(3):212.
[5] Smiley, L. M. (1999). Proof without words: Geometry of subtraction formulas. Math. Mag. 72(5):366.
[6] Smiley, L., Smiley, D. Geometry of addition and subtraction formulas. Available at: http://math.uaa.
alaska.edu/smiley/trigproofs.html .
[7] Yancey, B. F., Calderhead, J. A. (1896). New and old proofs of the Pythagorean theorem. Amer. Math.
Monthly 3:299–300.
[8] Zimba, J. (2009). The possibility of trigonometric proofs of the Pythagorean theorem. Forum Geom. 9:275–
278.

Summary. The sum and difference identities for tangent are used to prove the Pythagorean theorem.

ZSOLT LENGVÁRSZKY (MR Author ID: 112490) received his degrees from the University of Szeged (Hun-
gary), and the University of South Carolina. For the past 10 years, he has been a faculty member at the Louisiana
State University Shreveport. His mathematical interests include universal algebra and lattice theory, combinatorics
and graph theory, and mathematics of paper folding.