Problem: Article: The water pump you put into your pond has an input hose that draws the water in. Use the same fish-friendly sealant you used to seal the hoses to the container to glue a metal screen to the end of the input hose to stop it from sucking up large debris. Wrap the screen around the end of the hose and then use the sealant to glue it in place. You can use any pliable screen material, including the screening commonly used for windows. Purchase the screen at your local hardware store. Attach the hose running from the lid of the filter to the outlet on your water pump. Place a hose clamp on the hose before you connect it, then use a Phillips head screwdriver to tighten the clamp over the hose and outlet nozzle to ensure it's secure. At this stage, the pump is not connected to power, so it won't function yet. Place both the pump and the filter at the pond's edge once they're connected. If the pump is not designed to be submerged, position it in a covered spot near the water's edge and just submerge the inlet hose. Place the filter nearby on the water's edge. When you turn on the pump, water will flow through it and into the filter. Submerge the screened end of the inlet hose in the water. Read the package your pump came in. It will clearly specify if your pump is meant to be submerged in water. The lower hose on the filter will allow the filtered water to return back into the pond. Simply orient the filter so the hole points toward the pond and run the hose from the hole into the water. This hose returns the clean water to the pond after it's been filtered. Position this hose as far away from the pump's inlet hose as you can. Plug the pump into a power source like an outdoor wall outlet. With the pump running, water will move into the top of the filter, pass through the filter material and lava rocks, and back out the return hose. It may take a few minutes for the water to fill the container enough to begin pouring out the return hose. If water completely fills the container and does not exit from the return hose, the outlet is blocked by the lava rocks. Disassemble the filter, clear the outlet, and try again. Open the lid of the filter and remove the filter material. Rinse it thoroughly and then remove the lava rocks. Use a hose to rinse them off completely and then put both filters back into the container. If the pond is very dirty, clean the filter every two weeks instead of every month. Replace the filter material if it becomes too dirty to allow water to pass through.
Summary: Attach a plastic screen to the end of the input hose on the pump. Connect the pump to the filter inlet. Place the water pump in or near the pond and position the filter next to it. Run the filter return hose back into the pond. Connect the pump to power and switch it on. Clean the filter media every month.

Problem: Article: The Pythagorean Theorem is applicable only to right triangles, so, before proceeding, it's important to make sure your triangle fits the definition of a right triangle. Luckily, there is only one qualifying factor - to be a right triangle, your triangle must contain one angle of exactly 90 degrees. As a form of visual shorthand, right angles are often marked with a small square, rather than a rounded "curve", to identify them as such. Look for this special mark in one of the corners of your triangle. In the Pythagorean Theorem, the variables a and b refer to the sides that meet in a right angle, while the variable c refers to the hypotenuse - the longest side which is always opposite the right angle. So, to begin, assign the shorter sides of your triangle the variables a and b (it doesn't matter which side is labeled 'a' or 'b'), and assign the hypotenuse the variable c. The Pythagorean Theorem allows mathematicians to find the length of any one of a right triangle's sides as long as they know the lengths of the other two sides. Determine which of your sides has an unknown length - a, b, and/or c. If the length of only one of your sides is unknown, you're ready to proceed. Let's say, for example, that we know that our hypotenuse has a length of 5 and one of the other sides has a length of 3, but we're not sure what the length of the third side is. In this case, we know we're solving for the length of the third side, and, because we know the lengths of the other two, we're ready to go! We'll return to this example problem in the following steps. If the lengths of two of your sides are unknown, you'll need to determine the length of one more side to use the Pythagorean Theorem. Basic trigonometry functions can help you here if you know one of the non-right angles in the triangle. Insert your values for the lengths of the sides of your triangle into the equation a2 + b2 = c2. Remember that a and b are the non hypotenuse sides, while c is the hypotenuse. In our example, we know the length of one side and the hypotenuse (3 & 5), so we would write our equation as 3 + b = 5 To solve your equation, begin by taking the square of each of your known sides. Alternatively, if you find it easier, you may leave your side lengths in the exponent form, then square them later. In our example, we would square 3 and 5 to get 9 and 25, respectively. We can rewrite our equation as 9 + b = 25. If necessary, use basic algebra operations to get your unknown variable on one side of the equals sign and your two squares on the other side of the equals sign. If you're solving for the hypotenuse, c will already be isolated, so you won't need to do anything to isolate it. In our example, our current equation is 9 + b = 25. To isolate b, let's subtract 9 from both sides of the equation. This leaves us with b = 16. You should now be left with one variable squared on one side of the equation and a number on the other side. Simply take the square root of both sides to find the length of your unknown side. In our example, b = 16, taking the square root of both sides gives us b = 4. Thus, we can say that the length of the unknown side of our triangle is 4. The reason that the Pythagorean Theorem is so widely used today is that it's applicable in countless practical situations. Learn to recognize right triangles in real life - in any situation where two straight objects or lines meet at a right angle and a third line or object stretches diagonally across from the right angle, you can use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the length of one of the sides, given the length of the other two. Let's try real-world example that's a little more difficult. A ladder is leaning against a building. The base of the ladder is 5 meters (16.4ft) from the bottom of the wall. The ladder reaches 20 meters (65.6ft) up the wall of the building. How long is the ladder? "5 meters (16.4ft) from the bottom of wall" and "20 meters (65.6ft) up the wall" clue us into the lengths of the sides of our triangle. Since the wall and the ground (presumably) meet at a right angle and the ladder leans diagonally against the wall, we can think of this arrangement as a right triangle with sides of length a = 5 and b = 20. The length of the ladder is the hypotenuse, so c is our unknown. Let's use the Pythagorean Theorem: a + b = c (5) + (20) = c 25 + 400 = c 425 = c sqrt(425) = c c = 20.6 . The approximate length of the ladder is 20.6 meters (67.6ft).
Summary:
Ensure that your triangle is a right triangle. Assign the variables a, b, and c to the sides of your triangle. Determine which side(s) of the triangle you are solving for. Plug your two known values into the equation. Calculate the squares. Isolate your unknown variable on one side of the equals sign. Take the square root of both sides of the equation. Use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the sides of real-world right triangles.