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calgorithmoperatorspythagorean

Find Pythagorean triplet for which a + b + c = 1000


A Pythagorean triplet is a set of three natural numbers, a < b < c, for which, a2 + b2 = c2

For example, 32 + 42 = 9 + 16 = 25 = 52.

There exists exactly one Pythagorean triplet for which a + b + c = 1000. Find the product abc.

Source: https://projecteuler.net/problem=9

I tried but didn't know where my code went wrong. Here's my code in C:

#include <math.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>


void main()
{
    int a=0, b=0, c=0;
    int i;
    for (a = 0; a<=1000; a++)
    {
        for (b = 0; b<=1000; b++)
        {
            for (c = 0; c<=1000; c++)
            {
                if ((a^(2) + b^(2) == c^(2)) && ((a+b+c) ==1000)))
                    printf("a=%d, b=%d, c=%d",a,b,c);
            }
        }
    }
getch();    
}

Solution

  • #include <math.h>
    #include <stdio.h>
    
    int main()
    {
        const int sum = 1000;
        int a;
        for (a = 1; a <= sum/3; a++)
        {
            int b;
            for (b = a + 1; b <= sum/2; b++)
            {
                int c = sum - a - b;
                if ( a*a + b*b == c*c )
                   printf("a=%d, b=%d, c=%d\n",a,b,c);
            }
        }
        return 0;
    }
    

    explanation:

    • b = a;
      if a, b (a <= b) and c are the Pythagorean triplet,
      then b, a (b >= a) and c - also the solution, so we can search only one case
    • c = 1000 - a - b; It's one of the conditions of the problem (we don't need to scan all possible 'c': just calculate it)