the angle is greater than or equal to the length of the adjacent side (SSA, or long side-short side-angle), then the two triangles are congruent. The opposite side is sometimes longer when the corresponding angles are acute, but it is always longer when the corresponding angles are right or obtuse. Where the angle is a right angle, also known as the hypotenuse-leg (HL) postulate or the right-angle-hypotenuse-side (RHS) condition, the third side can be calculated using the Pythagorean theorem thus allowing the SSS postulate to be applied. If two triangles satisfy the SSA condition and the corresponding angles are acute and the length of the side opposite the angle is equal to the length of the adjacent side multiplied by the sine of the angle, then the two triangles are congruent. If two triangles satisfy the SSA condition and the corresponding angles are acute and the length of the side opposite the angle is greater than the length of the adjacent side multiplied by the sine of the angle (but less than the length of the adjacent side), then the two triangles cannot be shown to be congruent. This is the ambiguous case and two different triangles can be formed from the given information, but further information distinguishing them can lead to a proof of congruence. Angle-angle-angle In Euclidean geometry, AAA (angle-angle-angle) (or just AA, since in Euclidean geometry the angles of a triangle add up to 180°) does not provide information regarding the size of the two triangles and hence proves only similarity and not congruence in Euclidean space. However, in spherical geometry and hyperbolic geometry (where the sum of the angles of a triangle varies with size) AAA is sufficient for congruence on a given curvature of surface. CPCTC This acronym stands for Corresponding Parts of Congruent Triangles are Congruent, which is an abbreviated version of the definition of congruent triangles. In more detail, it is a succinct way to say that if triangles and are congruent, that is, with corresponding pairs of angles at vertices and ; and ; and and , and with corresponding pairs of sides and ; and ; and and , then the following statements are true: The statement is often used as a justification in elementary geometry proofs when a conclusion of the congruence of parts of two triangles is needed after the congruence of the triangles has been established. For example,