To factor a quadratic expression, apply the FOIL (First, Outside, Inside, Last) method in reverse.

A line segment is a portion of a line with a measurable length. The midpoint of a line segment is the point exactly halfway between the endpoints. The midpoint bisects (cuts in half) the line segment.

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 right angle measures 90 degrees and is the intersection of two perpendicular lines. In diagrams, a right angle is indicated by a small box completing a square with the perpendicular lines.

When solving an equation with two variables, replace the variables with the values given and then solve the now variable-free equation. (Remember order of operations, PEMDAS, Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication/Division, Addition/Subtraction.)