Multiple Representations of Mathematical Concepts

I will first start by explaining the Pythagorean Theorem. The Pythagorean Theorem states that the
adjacent and opposite sides of a right triangles hypotenuse, when squared and then added, will give
you the value of the hypotenuse squared.


This theorem can then be used to connect other concepts that are built from here. I will demonstrate
how the Distance Formula and the Standard Equation of a Circle are both representations of the
Pythagorean Theorem.

The Distance Formula:

= d

The Pythagorean Theorem:

The Standard Equation of a Circle:

In order for us to find the distance between these two points, we could derive the Distance Formula
using the Pythagorean Theorem.









(

We draw a diagonal line that connects the two points. This will be the distance that were looking for.
We then draw a horizontal line from the point (

that extends to the length of the point (

.
This represents the horizontal distance between the two points. We then draw a vertical line that
intersects the horizontal line and will represent the vertical distance between the two points.












We can now find the length of the vertical and horizontal sides of the triangle by subtracting the x and y
values, where y represents the vertical length and x the horizontal length.

Using the Pythagorean Theorem, we find the horizontal length between the points, or the hypotenuse
of the triangle we just created.

Using this same technique, we can also derive the standard equation of a circle. We will first label the
center of the circle as (

. Using this as our initial point, we can then connect the center point with
any other point on the circle, B(x,y). The length from the center of the circle to any point on the actual
circle is also known as our radius, so we will label this line as r. This r also demonstrates the
hypotenuse.
















In order for us to find the standard equation of a circle, we can again use the Pythagorean Theorem. We
will have to draw a right triangle within the circle with r as the hypotenuse side.

B(

We also have to find the length of each side of this triangle in order to use the Pythagorean Theorem, so
we subtract the x and y coordinates from B and C from one another:

C(

B(

r


r
C(

B ,














By applying the Pythagorean Theorem, we get the following:

(or the standard equation of a circle)

The derived equation is the equation of a circle anywhere on the coordinate plane. However, if the
center of the circle were at the origin, then the

would be (0,0), which would then make the

equation become x
2
+y
2
=r
2
.

Summary

With both the standard equation of a circle and the distance formula, we used the Pythagorean
Theorem to construct the two. We were able to find the distance formula using the Pythagorean
Theorem by using two points and then creating a triangle where the connection of the two points was
the hypotenuse. When constructing the standard equation of a circle, we again drew a triangle, found
the distance between the x and y coordinates, and applied the Pythagorean Theorem. Being able to find
both formulas with the Pythagorean Theorem proves that both are basically derivations of the
Pythagorean Theorem.



Other topics in math that can be derived from the Pythagorean Theorem are trig identities. For example,
when using a unit circle, a point has coordinates represented by (cos,sin ) and the hypotenuse equals
1. Whenever you apply the Pythagorean Theorem to these coordinates, you the following trig identity:

Once you find this trig identity, you are able to the others by manipulating elements on each side.

Example 1:

Example 2: