Calculating The Hypotenuse
Usually the length of the hypotenuse is calculated using the square root function derived from the Pythagorean theorem. Setting x = c1 and y = c2 to avoid subscripts:
In mathematical notation;
Many computer languages support the ISO C standard function hypot(x,y), which returns the value above. The function is designed not to fail where the straightforward calculation might overflow or underflow and can be slightly more accurate.
Some scientific calculators provide a function to convert from rectangular coordinates to polar coordinates. This gives both the length of the hypotenuse and the angle the hypotenuse makes with the base line (c1 above) at the same time when given x and y. The angle returned will normally be that given by atan2(y,x).
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