An equation is two expressions separated by an equal sign. The key to solving equations is to 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.

A line on the coordinate grid can be defined by a slope-intercept equation: y = mx + b. For a given value of x, the value of y can be determined given the slope (m) and y-intercept (b) of the line. The slope of a line is change in y over change in x, \({\Delta y \over \Delta x}\), and the y-intercept is the y-coordinate where the line crosses the vertical y-axis.

The circumference of a circle is the distance around its perimeter and equals π (approx. 3.14159) x diameter: c = π d. The area of a circle is π x (radius)² : a = π r².

For parallel lines with a transversal, the following relationships apply:

• angles in the same position on different parallel lines equal each other (a° = w°, b° = x°, c° = z°, d° = y°)
• alternate interior angles are equal (a° = z°, b° = y°, c° = w°, d° = x°)
• all acute angles (a° = c° = w° = z°) and all obtuse angles (b° = d° = x° = y°) equal each other
• same-side interior angles are supplementary and add up to 180° (e.g. a° + d° = 180°, d° + c° = 180°)

Applying these relationships starting with b° = 164, the value of a° is 16.

Perimeter is equal to the sum of the four sides:

p = a + b + c + d
p = 4 + 5 + 3 + 4
p = 16