Question

orbital eccentricity
scientists assign eccentricity values to the planets. they do this to describe how circular or elliptic their orbits are. a planet with an eccentricity value of zero has a perfectly circular orbit. the higher the eccentricity value, the more elliptical the orbit.
table 1 eccentricity of the planets’ orbits
planet orbital eccentricity
mercury 0.206
venus 0.007
earth 0.017
mars 0.094
jupiter 0.049
saturn 0.052
uranus 0.047
neptune 0.010
enter your answer.
read the table this table gives the eccentricity values for the 8 planets in our solar system. if the eccentricity is closer to 0 than it is to 1, the orbit is more circular. if the eccentricity is closer to 1 than it is to 0, the orbit is more elliptical.
use these values to determine the relative shapes of the planets’ orbits. check your answer.

Explanation:

Step1: Understand the concept

The closer the eccentricity value is to 0, the more circular the orbit. The closer it is to 1, the more elliptical the orbit.

Step2: Compare values

Among the given eccentricity values of the planets (Mercury: 0.206, Venus: 0.007, Earth: 0.017, Mars: 0.094, Jupiter: 0.049, Saturn: 0.052, Uranus: 0.047, Neptune: 0.010), Venus has the smallest value (0.007).

Answer:

Venus has the most circular - orbit among the 8 planets in the table as it has the lowest orbital - eccentricity value of 0.007.