Greenwaldian Theorem

The Greenwaldian Theorem is the name satirically given to the inequality

a^2+b^2>c^2

. The name itself first appeared in the Futurama movie ', as a tribute to Dr. Sarah Greenwald, an associate professor of mathematics at Appalachian State University who has commented extensively on mathematics in popular culture, especially The Simpsons and Futurama. Dr. Greenwald commented that, although she was flattered to have this theorem named after her, she was not the first to observe it.,

Explanation
The Greenwaldian Theorem refers to the concept that, given the sides

a

and

b

, and the hypotenuse

c

, of a right triangle which is drawn on the surface of a sphere or other polyhedron, the sums of the squares of the two sides will be greater than the square of the hypotenuse. By contrast, the Pythagorean theorem, which holds true for triangles drawn on a flat plane, holds that

a^2+b^2=c^2

.

See Also
*
* Triangle
* Pythagorean theorem
* Spherical triangle

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