A locus in 3-dimensional space that can be represented in a Cartesian coordinate system by a polynomial equation in x, y, and z of degree two; that is, an equation of the form
where the constants a, b, c, f, g, and h are not all zero. When the equation represents a non-empty locus, it can be reduced by translation and rotation to one of the following canonical forms:
Forms (i)–(v) are the non-degenerate quadrics.