Conic Sections and Quadric Surfaces
- To: mathgroup@smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg11082] Conic Sections and Quadric Surfaces
- From: mavalosjr@aol.com (MAvalosJr)
- Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 20:32:33 -0500
- Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
Dear Sir: Ref: Introduction to Linear Algebra- 4th ed. Johnson,Riess and Arnold (page 35) Find the equation of the conic section passing through the five points (-1,0),(0,1),(2,2),(1,-1), (0,-3). Display the graph of the conic. When I try to set up the augmented matrix I get two (2) indeterminate rows which prevents my proceeding with the method outlined in the textbook Linear Algebra with Mathematica by E. Johnson page 58 to 59. How can I get around this?The equation to satisfy (an ellipse) is ax^2 + bxy + cy^2 + dx + ey + f =0. Is there some other technique I can use to find the equation given sevral points? I am presently playing around with Fit[ data,{etc}] but I only know how to fit quadratics. Thank you in advance. Manuel Avalos MAvalosjr@aol.com