What's the difference between perimeter and circumference? [closed]

What's the difference between perimeter and circumference when they mean the total length of the boundary of a two-dimensional geometric shape?

Solution 1:

Circumference is a special case of perimeter. Both describe the total length of the boundary of a two dimensional figure, but circumference specifically refers to the perimeter of a curved figure or arc. Therefore it only applies to circles, ovals, ellipses, arcs, etc.

Solution 2:

In ordinary usage, perimeter almost always refers to the boundary itself, while circumference is more likely to refer to the length of the boundary: you might hear someone ask "what's the circumference of the circle?" (expecting an answer like "10 cm") but you'd never hear them ask "what's the perimeter of the circle?" for the same answer.