Students graduating from high school this spring say they proved the Pythagorean theorem using trigonometry. Scientists have thought it impossible, The Guardian reports.
From New Orleans will graduate from high school this spring Calcea Johnson and Ne’Kiya Jackson say they have new proof of the 2,000-year-old Pythagorean Theorem.
Johnson and Jackson say they proved the Pythagorean theorem by trigonometry. Researchers have always thought it was impossible, he says British newspaper The Guardian.
Trigonometry itself depends on the Pythagorean Theorem, which is why it has been considered impossible for the theorem to be proved by the field of study that it itself explains.
The Pythagorean Theorem is one of the most famous mathematical theorems. The theorem can be used to calculate the length of the unknown side of a right-angled triangle if the lengths of the other sides are known.
of The Guardian according to Jackson and Johnson gave a presentation at a meeting of the Association of Mathematicians in Georgia about how they discovered the new proof. They were the only high schoolers present.
Johnson told WWL, a local New Orleans channel, how incredible it was to present their work alongside university researchers.
“Nothing beats the feeling of being able to do something that young people aren’t expected to be able to do,” Johnson stated.
of the American Mathematical Association executive director Catherine Roberts told The Guardian that he encouraged Johnson and Jackson to submit their work for peer review to determine whether their proof is relevant to the mathematical literature.
Johnson and Jackson dream of studying biochemistry or environmental engineering in the future, The Guardian says.