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.

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).

Parallel lines are lines that share the same slope (steepness) and therefore never intersect. A transversal occurs when a set of parallel lines are crossed by another line. All of the angles formed by a transversal are called interior angles and angles in the same position on different parallel lines equal each other (a° = w°, b° = x°, c° = z°, d° = y°) and are called corresponding angles. Alternate interior angles are equal (a° = z°, b° = y°, c° = w°, d° = x°) and 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°).

The formula for area is πr²:

a = πr²
a = π(4²)
a = 16π

To factor a quadratic expression, apply the FOIL method (First, Outside, Inside, Last) in reverse. First, find the two Last terms that will multiply to produce -36 as well and sum (Inside, Outside) to equal 5. For this problem, those two numbers are -4 and 9. Then, plug these into a set of binomials using the square root of the First variable (y²):

y² + 5y - 36
y² + (-4 + 9)y + (-4 x 9)
(y - 4)(y + 9)