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#1 2005-10-08 05:02:25
- sugarhigh
- Novice
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The square in the right angle symbol...
What is the name / is there a name for the square in the right angle symbol? My geometry teacher did not know and would give extra credit to anyone who finds out. I have been looking everywhere for its name but its never said. If you know, please tell me what it is!
Thank you,
Jack
#2 2005-10-08 06:07:48
- kylekatarn
- Power Member
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Re: The square in the right angle symbol...
the square is there to show that the catets are perpendicular...since we know that all the edges in a square are perpendicular.
#3 2005-10-08 09:05:24
- MathsIsFun
- Administrator
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Re: The square in the right angle symbol...
I have searched through some dictionaries, and not found any name for the right angle symbol. Perhaps its name is "right angle symbol" 
And kyle, I am fascinated by the name "catets" - it does not occur in English, but some spanish (and portuguese?) websites seem to indicate it means the two sides that are not the hypotenuse - is that right?
"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..." - Leon M. Lederman