Question

is the path shown below elliptical or not? use keplers laws to explain how you know.

Explanation:

Kepler's first law states that planets move in elliptical orbits with the Sun at one focus. In an elliptical orbit, the distance from the Sun (focus) to the orbiting object (Object Alpha) changes. If the path were circular (a special case of an ellipse where the two foci coincide), the distance from the Sun to Object Alpha would be constant. But in the given diagram, the lengths of the lines from the Sun to points A, B, C, and D on Object Alpha's path are different. This variation in distance indicates that the path is not circular. Since all planetary (and similar orbital) paths in our solar - system context (where Kepler's laws apply) are either elliptical or circular, and it's not circular, by Kepler's first law, the path must be elliptical.

Answer:

The path is elliptical.