Armor reduces the damage you take from physical attacks (except bleeds).
This damage reduction is hard capped at 85%.
K is a value that depends on the content you are in.
Example: If I take 10k damage in SoD mythic (k = 3545), and I have 2500 armor. The calculation will be:
Therefore I would take 5864 damage from that attack after armor.
Each class has its own way of increasing armor further:
Druid
Ironfur increases armor by 1xAgi for 7 seconds and stacks asynchronously (i.e. a new stack does not extend the previous but acts as its own buff)
Demon Hunter
Demon Spikes increases armor by 0.75xAgi for 6 seconds and can stack in duration (i.e. if you use 2 charges of it you will have a buff for 12 seconds)
Death Knight
Bone Shield increases armor by 0.7xStr for 30 seconds or until all charges are consumed. Using Marrowrend will add 3 more stacks and refresh the duration.
Monk
Does not have any rotational abilities which increases their armor. However, Stagger is the cornerpiece of reducing damage taken which will be explained in more detail on the Monk page. The Mighty Pour legendary can increase armor by 50% for 8 seconds when you use Celestial Brew.
Paladin
Shield of the Righteous increases armor by 1.7xStr for 4.5 seconds and can stack in duration (i.e. if you cast it twice you will have a buff for 9 seconds)
Warrior
Does not have any rotational abilities which increases their armor.
Working Though An Example
To further elaborate with a Paladin example. Shield of the Righteous increases armor by 1.7*Str. It may be useful to know how much damage reduction SotR provides, so let's work that out.
I'll leave the simplification working as an exercise for the reader, but in short:
Because there is a relation between the ilvl of the content and K, there is also a relation between a pvp opponent's ilvl and k. As such, trying to calculate armor based off of the tooltip while outside of an instance and targeting a player, yourself or without a target can give unexpected results.
K values
Base/open world: 2500
Season 1 M0/M+: 2455
Castle Nathria LFR: 2500
Castle Nathria Normal: 2662.5
Castle Nathria Heroic: 2845
Castle Nathria Mythic: 3050
Season 2 M0: 2785
Season 2 M+: 2845
Sanctum of Domination LFR: 2845
Sanctum of Domination Normal: 3050
Sanctum of Domination Heroic: 3282.5
Sanctum of Domination Mythic: 3545
Season 3 M0: 3172.5
Season 3 M+: 3282.5
Sepulcher of the First Ones LFR: 3282.5
Sepulcher of the First Ones Normal: 3545
Sepulcher of the First Ones Heroic: 3842.5
Sepulcher of the First Ones Mythic: 4175