I've recently learned that we use Pythagoras a lot in our physics calculations and I'm afraid I don't really get the point.

Here's an example from a book to make sure an object doesn't travel faster than a MAXIMUM_VELOCITY constant in the horizontal plane:

MAXIMUM_VELOCITY = <any number>;
SQUARED_MAXIMUM_VELOCITY = MAXIMUM_VELOCITY * MAXIMUM_VELOCITY; 

function animate(){
    var squared_horizontal_velocity = (x_velocity * x_velocity) + (z_velocity * z_velocity);

    if( squared_horizontal_velocity <= SQUARED_MAXIMUM_VELOCITY ){

        scalar = squared_horizontal_velocity / SQUARED_MAXIMUM_VELOCITY;

        x_velocity = x_velocity / scalar;
        z_velocity = x_velocity / scalar;
    }
}

Let's try this with some numbers:

An object is attempting to move 5 units in x and 5 units in z. It should only be able to move 5 units horizontally in total!

MAXIMUM_VELOCITY = 5;
SQUARED_MAXIMUM_VELOCITY = 5 * 5;
SQUARED_MAXIMUM_VELOCITY = 25;

function animate(){
    var x_velocity = 5;
    var z_velocity = 5;

    var squared_horizontal_velocity = (x_velocity * x_velocity) + (z_velocity * z_velocity);
    var squared_horizontal_velocity = 5 * 5 + 5 * 5;
    var squared_horizontal_velocity = 25 + 25;
    var squared_horizontal_velocity = 50;

//  if( squared_horizontal_velocity <= SQUARED_MAXIMUM_VELOCITY ){
    if( 50 <= 25 ){
        scalar = squared_horizontal_velocity / SQUARED_MAXIMUM_VELOCITY;
        scalar = 50 / 25;
        scalar = 2.0;

        x_velocity = x_velocity / scalar;
        x_velocity = 5 / 2.0;
        x_velocity = 2.5;

        z_velocity = z_velocity / scalar;
        z_velocity = 5 / 2.0;
        z_velocity = 2.5;

        // new_horizontal_velocity = x_velocity + z_velocity
        // new_horizontal_velocity = 2.5 + 2.5
        // new_horizontal_velocity = 5
    }
}

Now this works well, but we can do the same thing without Pythagoras:

MAXIMUM_VELOCITY = 5;

function animate(){
    var x_velocity = 5;
    var z_velocity = 5;

    var horizontal_velocity = x_velocity + z_velocity;
    var horizontal_velocity = 5 + 5;
    var horizontal_velocity = 10;

//  if( horizontal_velocity >= MAXIMUM_VELOCITY ){
    if( 10 >= 5 ){
        scalar = horizontal_velocity / MAXIMUM_VELOCITY;
        scalar = 10 / 5;
        scalar = 2.0;

        x_velocity = x_velocity / scalar;
        x_velocity = 5 / 2.0;
        x_velocity = 2.5;

        z_velocity = z_velocity / scalar;
        z_velocity = 5 / 2.0;
        z_velocity = 2.5;

        // new_horizontal_velocity = x_velocity + z_velocity
        // new_horizontal_velocity = 2.5 + 2.5
        // new_horizontal_velocity = 5
    }
}

Benefits of doing it without Pythagoras:

1. Less lines
2. Within those lines, it's easier to read what's going on
3. ...and it takes less time to compute, as there are less multiplications

Seems to me like computers and humans get a better deal without Pythagoras! However, I'm sure I'm wrong as I've seen Pythagoras' theorem in a number of reputable places, so I'd like someone to explain me the benefit of using Pythagoras to a maths newbie.

Does this have anything to do with unit vectors? To me a unit vector is when we normalize a vector and turn it into a fraction. We do this by dividing the vector by a larger constant. I'm not sure what constant it is. The total size of the graph? Anyway, because it's a fraction, I take it, a unit vector is basically a graph that can fit inside a 3D grid with the x-axis running from -1 to 1, z-axis running from -1 to 1, and the y-axis running from -1 to 1. That's literally everything I know about unit vectors... not much :P And I fail to see their usefulness.

Also, we're not really creating a unit vector in the above examples. Should I be determining the scalar like this:

// a mathematical work-around of my own invention. There may be a cleverer way to do this! I've also made up my own terms such as 'divisive_scalar' so don't bother googling
var divisive_scalar = (squared_horizontal_velocity / SQUARED_MAXIMUM_VELOCITY);
var divisive_scalar = ( 50 / 25 );
var divisive_scalar = 2;

var multiplicative_scalar = (divisive_scalar / (2*divisive_scalar));
var multiplicative_scalar = (2 / (2*2));
var multiplicative_scalar = (2 / 4);
var multiplicative_scalar = 0.5;

x_velocity = x_velocity * multiplicative_scalar
x_velocity = 5 * 0.5
x_velocity = 2.5

Again, I can't see why this is better, but it's more "unit-vector-y" because the multiplicative_scalar is a unit_vector? As you can see, I use words such as "unit-vector-y" so I'm really not a maths whiz! Also aware that unit vectors might have nothing to do with Pythagoras so ignore all of this if I'm barking up the wrong tree.

I'm a very visual person (3D modeller and concept artist by trade!) and I find diagrams and graphs really, really helpful so as many as humanely possible please!