divide the sum of the square of a and b by thrice c Sum of the squares of a and b is found as follows: a squared means we raise a to the power of 2: a^2 b squared means we raise b to the power of 2: b^2 Sum of the squares means we add both terms: a^2 + b^2 Thrice c means we multiply c by 3: 3c Divide means we have a quotient: (a^2 + b^2)/3c