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Cathetus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This page is about the geometric meaning. For the plant, see Phyllanthus.
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Either one of the two sides which, in a right triangle, are adjacent to the right angle (the remaining side, opposite to the right angle, is called hypotenuse). It is also known as a "leg" of the right triangle or, most commonly, by the periphrasis "side about the right angle". When they're related to the hypotenuse, the catheti are often referred to simply as "the other two sides".
If a right triangle is not isosceles (i.e. it is scalene), then its catheti have different lengths and a distinction can be made between the "minor" one and the "major" one.
In Euclidean geometry, the lengths of the catheti are related to the length of the hypotenuse by the Pythagorean theorem.
In a wider sense, a cathetus is any line falling perpendicularly on a surface or on another line.
- Bernhardsen, T. Geographic Information Systems: An Introduction, 3rd ed. New York: Wiley, p. 271, 2002.