Question

Which orbital shape did most scientists in the early 1600s think the planets of our solar system have?
Responses

elliptical
elliptical - no response given

parabolic
parabolic - no response given

hyperbolic
hyperbolic - no response given

circular

Answer 1

Most scientists in the early 1600s thought that the planets of our solar system have circular orbits. This belief was largely influenced by the views of ancient astronomers and the prevailing ideas of the time before Johannes Kepler's laws of planetary motion demonstrated that orbits are actually elliptical.