Projective conic ($\{[x:y:z]:q(x,y,z)=0\}$)

A projective conic is the zero locus in a projective plane of a nonzero homogeneous degree-two polynomial. The equation is considered up to multiplication by a nonzero scalar. Over the complex numbers, a symmetric matrix for the quadratic form has rank three, two, or one: these give a nonsingular conic, two distinct projective lines, or one line counted twice. Diagonalization of a quadratic form and rescaling its nonzero diagonal entries prove this classification. The smooth model $XZ-Y^2=0$ is parametrized by the degree-two Veronese map $[s:t]\mapsto [s^2:st:t^2]$.

Four projective points in general linear position in the complex projective plane impose four independent linear conditions on the six coefficients of a quadratic polynomial. To see independence, put them at the three coordinate points and $[1:1:1]$ using a projective frame. The remaining equations are $Axy+Bxz+Cyz=0$ with $A+B+C=0$, a two-dimensional vector space. Projectivizing its nonzero elements gives a pencil. It has nonsingular bases, for example the forms with coefficient triples $(1,1,-2)$ and $(1,-2,1)$, because the determinant of the symmetric coefficient matrix is $ABC/4$. Its three singular members are exactly the three pairs of lines obtained by partitioning the four base points into two pairs.