The four conic sections that I know of in mathematics are two dimensional shapes that can be made by getting the cross section of two cones that are inverted and share the same tip at a certain angle. For example, you can cut the cones horizontally to get a circle, cut it at a slight angle to get an ellipse, cut it at the same angle as the slant of the cone to get a parabola, or cut it vertically to get a hyperbola. There are also equations for the conic sections, which can all be found on Wikipedia, along with this information.