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From: jmorriso@ee.ubc.ca (John Paul Morrison)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: Re: Program wanted for conic sections.
Message-ID: <1990Nov2.131309@ee.ubc.ca>
Date: 2 Nov 90 21:13:09 GMT
References: <1990Nov1.180343.7086@isc.rit.edu>
Sender: root@fs1.ee.ubc.ca
Reply-To: daveg@ee.ubc.ca
Organization: UBC Electical Engineering VLSI Lab
Lines: 10

Identifying a general conic section from an equation like
a*x^2 + b*y^2 + c*x*y + d*x + e*y + f = 0
isn`t that complicated, it just takes a bit of nummber crunching.

You should look at a few linear algebra books. You have to set up the
above equation
in matrix form, and squish out some eigenvalues of a 2*2 matrix, which
isn't tough.
If anyone is desperate enough I can dig up the book and recant the exact
procedure.