Pythagorean Theorem: Versluys' Proof by Dissection

This is a dynamic illustration of proof 72 of our collection of proofs of the Pythagorean Theorem. It's listed as #25 geometric proof by E. S. Loomis, with a reference to an earlier collection by J. Versluys (1914).

 

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Unlike the geometric proof #22 for which Loomis also refers to Versluys and whose diagram does not reflect on the general configuration, the present dissection can be carried out for all right triangles and thus presents a visual proof of the Pythagorean theorem. (A few additional lines show one of possible ways of making the argument formal.)

References

  1. E. S. Loomis, The Pythagorean Proposition, NCTM, 1968

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