The other tutor is right, but you don't need to do all that just to determine what type of conic it is the equation of. All you need do is look at the terms in x² and y² and go by these rules: Rules for determining the type of conic an equation of the form Ax²+Cy²+Dx+Ey+F=0 is the equation of: 1. If the coefficients of both the x² and y² terms when they are on the same side of the equation are EXACTLY THE SAME NUMBER, the conic is a CIRCLE. 2. If the signs of both the x² and y² terms when they are on the same side of the equation are the SAME, the conic is an ELLIPSE. 3. If the signs of the x² and y² terms when they are on the same side of the equation are OPPOSITE, the conic is a HYPERBOLA. 4. If there is only an x² term but no y² term, or only a y² term and no x² term, the conic is a PARABOLA. 3x²+2x+15y²-4y = 30 The x² term is +3x² and the term in y² is +15y². They have the same sign + and they are on the same side of the equation, so rule 1 holds, and the conic is an ELLIPSE. Edwin