A triangle is a three-sided polygon. It has three interior angles that add up to 180° (a + b + c = 180°). An exterior angle of a triangle is equal to the sum of the two interior angles that are opposite (d = b + c). The perimeter of a triangle is equal to the sum of the lengths of its three sides, the height of a triangle is equal to the length from the base to the opposite vertex (angle) and the area equals one-half triangle base x height: a = ½ base x height.

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).

Perimeter is equal to the sum of the four sides:

p = a + b + c + d
p = 1 + 5 + 8 + 3
p = 17

To combine like terms, add or subtract the coefficients (the numbers that come before the variables) of terms that have the same variable raised to the same exponent.

5a³ + 3a³ = 8a³

To solve this equation, repeatedly do the same thing to both sides of the equation until the variable is isolated on one side of the equal sign and the answer on the other.

-4a + 5 = -9 + 7a
-4a = -9 + 7a - 5
-4a - 7a = -9 - 5
-11a = -14
a = \( \frac{-14}{-11} \)
a = 1\(\frac{3}{11}\)