Conics and Duality

Our idea for line conics came from applying the principle of duality to point conics. When we replace the phrase "a line is tangent to a conic" by the phrase "a line lies on a conic," the duality becomes even more striking. We have duals for all the statements we made about point conics:

A conic is the set of    A conic is the set of
points formed as the     lines formed as the
meets of corresponding   joins of corresponding
pairs of lines in two    pairs of points in two
projective pencils.      projective pencils.

Five points determine    Five lines determine
a conic.                 a conic.

A conic can be           A conic can be
represented in point     represented in line
coordinates by a         coordinates by a
quadratic equation.       quadratic equation.

A point lies on a conic  A line lies on a conic
if and only if exactly   if and only if exactly
one of the lines on it   on of the points on it
lies on the conic.       lies on the conic.

Moreover, the constructions and equations corresponding to these statements are dual In particular, We can construct a conic from five lines with the dual of the construction of a conic from five points. Similarly, We can discuss the line equations of a conic just as we discussed the point equations.