which returns the length of the hypotenuse, given lengths of side a and aside b, given in column B and C respectively. a2 + b2 = c2 When any two sides are know, this equation can be used to solve for the third side. When a and b are known, the length of the hypotenuse can be calculated with:
When b and c are known, the length of side a can be calculated with:
When a and c are known, length of side b can be calculated with:
To translate the above into Excel formula syntax, use the exponentiation operator (^) and the SQRT function, as seen below. The Pythagorean theorem can be written as: And the formulas below can be used to solve for each of the three sides: Instead of the exponentiation operator, you can also use the POWER function like this: The formulas above are an example of nesting one function inside another.
Dave Bruns
Hi - I’m Dave Bruns, and I run Exceljet with my wife, Lisa. Our goal is to help you work faster in Excel. We create short videos, and clear examples of formulas, functions, pivot tables, conditional formatting, and charts.
