Question

1. using page 2 of the esrt, does the eccentricity of a planets orbit depend on its distance from the sun? in other words, does eccentricity increase or decrease steadily as distance from the sun increases, or is it random? support your answer with data from the esrt.

Explanation:

Step1: Locate relevant data

Locate the data on the distance of planets from the Sun and their orbital eccentricities on page 2 of the ESRT.

Step2: Analyze the trend

Examine if the eccentricity values increase or decrease as the distance from the Sun increases. For example, Mercury is closest to the Sun with an eccentricity of about 0.206, Venus has an eccentricity of about 0.007 (closer to the Sun than Earth), Earth has an eccentricity of about 0.017, Mars has an eccentricity of about 0.094 (farther from the Sun than Earth), Jupiter has an eccentricity of about 0.048. We can see that there is no clear - cut increasing or decreasing trend.

Answer:

The eccentricity of a planet's orbit does not depend steadily on its distance from the Sun. The values of eccentricity do not increase or decrease steadily as the distance from the Sun increases; they are somewhat random. For instance, Mercury is close to the Sun with a relatively high eccentricity, while Venus, also close to the Sun, has a very low eccentricity.