What do you think is the reason scientists use an ellipse rather than a circle del for a planetary orbit?

Question

What do you think is the reason scientists use an ellipse rather than a circle del for a planetary orbit?

Answer 1

Because that's the solution to the gravitational two body (sun and planet) problem. It's the trajectory that conserves angular momentum and energy for an inverse square law attraction in classical mechanics. A circle is a special case an ellipse (with zero eccentricity).

Answer 2

1) when you actually measure the position of planets in the sky over time, their motions match an ellipse better than any other geometric shape

2) once physicists learned how to describe gravity mathematically, Newton showed that planetary orbits are ellipses

scientists use ellipses since both theory and observation match...Mercury is an interesting situation in which the ellipse precesses (or changes its orientation in space) slowly...a result that required the use of relativity and not just standard Newtonian physics

hope this answer is on point for you

Answer 3

Because most orbits are ellipses rather than perfect circles.  A circle is actually a special case of an ellipse, where both foci are at the same place.  Most orbits are NOT "perfect," meaning that they are ellipses.  The planet or other body around which something orbits is at one focal point.

Theoretically, an orbit COULD be perfectly circular, but it's not likely to happen naturally.