Question

The Pythagorean theorem states that the sum of the squares of the legs of a right triangle is equal to the square of the hypotenuse by the formula a2 + b2 = c2.

If a is a rational number and b is a rational number, why could c be an irrational number?

Answer 1

because you are adding two numbers (a^2 and b^2) and doing the square root to find the third number. Square roots are not rational unless they are of a perfect square

Answer 2

Because it could be a square root