What is the sum of the squares of the legs?

The sum of the squares of the legs is equal to the square of the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle.

This expression is the Pythagorean theorem, which is written in literal form as:

c ^ 2 = a ^ 2 + b ^ 2.

Let us assume that the leg a = 3 cm, and the leg b = 4 cm.

In this case, the sum of their squares will be equal to:

c ^ 2 = 3 ^ 2 + 4 ^ 2 = 9 + 16 = 25.

√s = √25 = 5 cm (hypotenuse).