The combined equation of any two lines (not necessarily through the origin) always has the fully general second-degree shape ax2+2hxy+by2+2gx+2fy+c=0, but the converse fails -- equations like x2+y2=25 have the same shape yet describe a circle, not two lines. A general second-degree equation genuinely represents a pair of lines only when both abc+2fgh−af2−bg2−ch2=0 (equivalently, the 3×3 determinant with a,b,c on the diagonal and h,g,f off it vanishes) and h2−ab≥0 hold together; in practice the safest way to confirm this and find the two lines is to factor the quadratic part and match the remaining linear/constant terms by comparison. Once confirmed, the pair is parallel to the lines of its homogeneous part ax2+2hxy+by2=0, so the same angle formula, perpendicularity condition a+b=0, and parallel condition h2−ab=0 carry over unchanged, and (when h2−ab>0) the two lines meet at (ab−h2hf−bg,ab−h2gh−af). The joint equation of the two lines that bisect the angles between a homogeneous pair ax2+2hxy+by2=0 is hx2−(a−b)xy−hy2=0; because its x2 and y2 coefficients are negatives of each other, the two bisectors are always mutually perpendicular, matching the geometric fact that the internal and external bisectors of an angle are perpendicular.