Proof #64
And yet one more proof by Floor van Lamoen; in a quintessentially mathematical spirit, this time around Floor reduces the general statement to a particular case, that of a right isosceles triangle. The latter has been treated by Socrates and is shown independently of the general theorem.
FH divides the square ABCD of side a + b into two equal quadrilaterals, ABFH and CDHF. The former consists of two equal triangles with area ab/2, and an isosceles right triangle with area c²/2. The latter is composed of two isosceles right triangles: one of area a²/2, the other b²/2, and a right triangle whose area (by the introductory remark) equals ab! Removing equal areas from the two quadrilaterals, we are left with the identity of areas: a²/2 + b²/2 = c²/2.
The idea of Socrates' proof that the area of an isosceles right triangle with hypotenuse k equals k²/4, has been used before, albeit implicitly. For example, Loomis, #67 (with a reference to the 1778 edition of E. Fourrey's Curiosities Geometrique [Loomis' spelling]) relies on the following diagram:
Triangle ABC is right at C, while ABD is right isosceles. (Point D is the midpoint of the semicircle with diameter AB, so that CD is the bisector of the right angle ACB.) AA' and BB' are perpendicular to CD, and AA'CE and BB'CF are squares; in particular EF ⊥ CD.
Triangles AA'D and DB'B (having equal hypotenuses and complementary angles at D) are congruent. It follows that AA' = B'D = A'C = CE = AE. And similar for the segments equal to B'C. Further, CD = B'C + B'D = CF + CE = EF.
Area(ADBC) = Area(ADC) + Area(DBC)
Area(ADBC) = CD×AA'/2 + CD×BB'/2
Area(ADBC) = CD×EF/2.
On the other hand,
Area(ABFE) = EF×(AE + BF)/2
Area(ADBC) = CD×AA'/2 + CD×BB'/2
Area(ADBC) = CD×EF/2.
Thus the two quadrilateral have the same area and ΔABC as the intersection. Removing ΔABC we see that
Area(ADB) = Area(ACE) + Area(BCF).
The proof reduces to Socrates' case, as the latter identity is equivalent to c²/4 = a²/4 + b²/4.
More recently, Bùi Quang Tuån came up with a different argument:
From the above, Area(BA'D) = Area(BB'C) and Area(AA'D) = Area(AB'C). Also, Area(AA'B) = Area(AA'B'), for AA'||BB'. It thus follows that Area(ABD) = Area(AA'C) + Area(BB'C), with the same consequences.