\refstepcounter{minipagecount} % increments the counter minipagecount by one.
\noindent{(\theminipagecount)}\hspace{0.1mm} % By default, LaTeX indents the first line of a new paragraph, but \noindent overrides this
% and inserts the current value of the minipagecount counter, enclosed in parentheses
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.45\textwidth} % The [t] option aligns the top of the minipage with the baseline of the surrounding text.
    \vspace{-26pt}  % moves the content of the minipage up, reducing the space between the minipage content and the preceding text.
    \raggedright %  the text lines up on the left side, but the right side will be ragged.
    \begin{align*} % The * align environment does not number the equations- Each line is aligned at the & symbol
        <<line1_LHS>> &= <<line1_RHS>>\\
        <<line2_LHS>> &= <<line2_RHS>>\\
        <<line3_LHS>> &= <<line3_RHS>>\\
    \end{align*}
\end{minipage}