A cylinder is a solid figure with straight parallel sides and a circular or oval cross section with a radius (r) and a height (h). The volume of a cylinder is π r²h and the surface area is 2(π r²) + 2π rh.

A rectangle is a parallelogram containing four right angles. Opposite sides (a = c, b = d) are equal and the perimeter is the sum of the lengths of all sides (a + b + c + d) or, comonly, 2 x length x width. The area of a rectangle is length x width. A square is a rectangle with four equal length sides. The perimeter of a square is 4 x length of one side (4s) and the area is the length of one side squared (s²).

A trapezoid is a quadrilateral with one set of parallel sides. The area of a trapezoid is one-half the sum of the lengths of the parallel sides multiplied by the height. In this diagram, that becomes ½(b + d)(h).

When presented with two equations with two variables, evaluate the first equation in terms of the variable you're not solving for then insert that value into the second equation. For example, if you have x and y as variables and you're solving for x, evaluate one equation in terms of y and insert that value into the second equation then solve it for x.