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Conic Sections and Quadric Surfaces



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





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