EQUAL TO VS. CONGRUENT TO, WHATS THE DIFFEREANCE?

This is a conflict that many have had trouble with, and it will be clarified here. When you have something equal to something else, there is a measruement of the two that is the same. Like, the mearuse of <ABC is equal to the measure of <DEF.

This is represented as m<ABC = m<DEF

Now, when you say that you have an angle that is congruent to another angle, it is stating that the angles are the same, yet their measures have not yet been confirmed. In some cases it is not important to verify the measure of an angle, only to know that they are congruent.

In the illustration (represented by congruent marks) <ABC <DEF