Pythagorean identity worksheets

The Pythagorean identity, sin²θ + cos²θ = 1, ties the two main ratios of an angle together: know one and the other is fixed. These free printable worksheets give one ratio of an acute angle and ask for the other, exact as a fraction.

Pythagorean identity
Pythagorean identity worksheet — Triples, exact fractions, free printable with answer key

The answer key prints on a separate page.

What's on this sheet

Every question is built off a Pythagorean triple, so knowing sin A = 3/5 gives cos A = 4/5 exactly — a clean fraction, not a decimal. The work is recognizing the triple and reading off the side that is left, which is the identity doing what Pythagoras does on the triangle behind it.

Why this sheet works

It needs no calculator, so the page prints and the answers stay exact. The step-by-step walk states the identity first and then applies it, because the point is seeing that one ratio determines the other rather than grinding an arithmetic routine.

How this one works

Find sin A

sin²A + cos²A=1
sin²A=1 −=
sin A=
  1. cos A = means the right triangle has those two sides — sin²A + cos²A = 1 fixes the third.
  2. Rearrange to the ratio you want and put in: sin²A = 1 − ()² = , and its square root is . The identity does the work — no triple to memorize.