Skip to main content
2 of 4
edited tags
Pete L. Clark
  • 65.4k
  • 12
  • 241
  • 381

Proof of "if a^2 + b^2 = c^2 then a*b*c is divisible by 60"

Hi,

Sorry if this question is too simple.

I once read, on a number theory textbook --- forget the title, in one of the problems list that all Pythagorean triplets when multiplied are divisible by 60.

I proved that using the generating functions (is this the correct name? I got the name from my Discrete Mathematics textbook):

a = p^2 - q^2 b = 2pq c = p^2 + q^2

I proved it by proving all possible parities of p and q. It's tedious because I have to prove some cases are not possible (like a, b, and c can't be all even or odd)

My questions are:

  1. Who and how someone came up with the generating functions?

  2. If you don't know the generating functions or don't want to prove it like I did, is there any other way to prove it? Geometrically? using Calculus? I mean there're many ways to prove Pythagorean theorem using Geometry, Number Theory, etc.