For the next trigonometric identities we start with Pythagoras' Theorem: The Pythagorean Theorem says that, in a right triangle, the square of a plus the square of b is equal to the square of c: a 2 + b 2 = c 2. Dividing through by c2 gives. a2 c2 + b2 c2 = c2 c2. This can be simplified to: ( a c )2 + ( b c )2 = 1.