Two high school students, Calcea Johnson and Ne'Kiya Jackson, have achieved the rare feat of proving the Pythagorean Theorem using trigonometry without circular logic, something that mathematicians have been attempting to do for almost 2,000 years. The girls presented their groundbreaking work at the American Mathematical Society's Annual Southeastern Conference and were the only high school students in attendance. They expressed their delight in being able to achieve something that people don't think young people can do and hope to inspire others to pursue math and science. The Pythagorean Theorem (A^2 + B^2 = C^2) is a fundamental concept in geometry that is based on the relationship between the sides of a right-angled triangle.
Photo Credit: Dan Cristian Pădureț