Pythagorean Theorem Calculator: Find C, A = n - Python

In mathematics, the Pythagorean theorem is named after the ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras, who by tradition is credited with its discovery and proof. It states that in a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle) is equal to the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides. This can be represented by the formula:

c^2 = a^2 + b^2

where c is the length of the hypotenuse, and a and b are the lengths of the other two sides.

In this Python program, we are going to write a function to solve for c given that a = n, where n is a user input.

Function Implementation

def pythagorean_theorem(n):
    """
    Given that a = n, solve for the length of the hypotenuse (c) in a right triangle 
    using the Pythagorean theorem c^2 = a^2 + b^2.
    
    Parameters:
        n (float): The length of one of the other two sides (a) in the right triangle.
    
    Returns:
        float: The length of the hypotenuse (c) in the right triangle.
    """
    b = c = 0.0 # Initialize other two side to 0
    
    b = float(input("Enter the length of the other side of the right triangle (b): "))
    # Validate user input
    while not b > 0:
        print("Invalid input. Please enter a valid length.")
        b = float(input("Enter the length of the other side of the right triangle (b): "))
    
    # Solve for c
    c = (n ** 2 + b ** 2) ** 0.5
    
    return c

How to Use

1. Copy and paste the code into a new Python file or Python IDE.
2. Run the following command to call the function:

c = pythagorean_theorem(n)

3. Replace n with the desired length of a. The function will ask the user for the length of b.
4. The function returns the length of the hypotenuse c.
5. Print the result or use it in further calculations.

Example

c = pythagorean_theorem(3)
print("The length of the hypotenuse is:", c)

Output:

Enter the length of the other side of the right triangle (b): 4
The length of the hypotenuse is: 5.0

In this example, we call the function pythagorean_theorem with a value of n = 3. The user is prompted to enter the length of b, which in this case is 4. The function solves for c and returns the value 5.0. We print the output using print() function.