Describe locus of points $z$ that satisfy $|z+2|+|z-2|=5$ For this problem, as the question says, I am supposed to describe the locus of points $z$ that satisfy the equation:
$$|z+2|+|z-2|=5$$
Usually these problems aren't too difficult with a bit of algebra, but this one is just confusing me too much (it's getting way too messy).
When I rewrite the equation in terms of $z$'s $x$ and $y$ components, I get:
$$\sqrt{(x+2)^2 + y^2} + \sqrt{(x-2)^2 + y^2} = 5$$
From here, if I choose to square the entire equation, I will get a nasty term in a radical that's too much for me to work out. If I multiply the entire equation by the conjugate (not complex conjugate) of the left-hand side, I arrive at nearly the exact same problem on the right side.
Please give me some guidance. Is the algebra avoidable?
 A: Let's try some messy algebra. You arrived at:
$$
\sqrt{(x+2)^{2}+y^{2}} = 5-\sqrt{(x-2)^{2}+y^{2}}
$$
Squaring both sides, we get:
$$
(x+2)^{2}+y^{2}=25-10\sqrt{(x-2)^{2}+y^{2}} + (x-2)^{2}+y^{2} \to 
8x=25-10\sqrt{(x-2)^{2}+y^{2}} 
$$
We move the $25$ to the LHS and square it again:
$$
(8x-25)^{2}=100((x-2)^{2}+y^{2}) \to \\
64x^{2}-400x+625=100x^{2}-400x+400+100y^{2} \to \\
100y^{2}=-36x^{2}+225
$$
Then, we have as possible for $y$:
$$
y=\pm\frac{\sqrt{-36x^{2}+225}}{10}
$$
We note that the expression inside the square root is $\geq 0$ only for $\frac{-5}{2}\leq x\leq \frac{5}{2}$. Therefore, the points that satisfy the condition are given by
$$
\{(x,y)\in \mathbb{R^{2}} | \frac{-5}{2}\leq x\leq \frac{5}{2}, y=\pm\frac{\sqrt{-36x^{2}+225}}{10}
\}
$$
The positive and negative signs on $y$ give you the upper and lower branches of the ellipse. Here is a link for a plot of the upper branch. Another way (and nicer) to see this is taking the equation involving the squares of $x$ and $y$ and putting it on this form:
$$
36x^2 + 100y^2 = 225
$$
You can then factor this into
$$
\frac{x^{2}}{a^{2}} + \frac{y^{2}}{b^{2}} = 1,
$$
where $a=5/2$ and $b=3/2$, which gives you geometric information about the ellipse much faster. 
A: 
$$|z+2|+|z-2|=5$$
This is an ellipse in the complex plane.
If you want to see it with in more details, choose $C=0,$ $$F_1=-2, F_2=2$$ and $$a=\frac{5}{2}.$$
A: Thinking of it conceptually, it says that the distance from z to -2 plus the distance from 2 is 5, a constant. This makes an ellipse. An ellipse is formed by taking two fixed points (foci) and taking the set whose sum to these two points is a constant.
So it's an ellipse with foci at 2, -2.
There are a lot of shapes you can make by making subtle changes to this equation.
If you try |z+2|-|z-2|=5, you'll get a hyperbola with the same foci.
You can do |z+2||z-2|=b for non-negative b would give you Ovals of Cassini.
|z+2|=b for non-negative b is a circle centered at -2 of radius b.
Edit: For Ovals of Cassini, it is the product, not the ratio of the distances to two fixed points (I have made the change in the post).
Also, I specified what b was and added a detail for the circle |z+2|=b example.
