Why do objects in space follow elliptical orbits ?

Objects in space follow elliptical orbits because they're moving around something else while being pulled by gravity, like when you swing a ball on a string around your head.

Imagine you're holding a ball on a string and spinning it around. The ball moves in a circle, right? But what if you let go of the string just a little bit? Instead of going in a perfect circle, the ball might start moving in an oval shape, that’s an ellipse!

Now think about the Earth and the Sun. The Earth is like that ball on a string, but instead of being tied to your hand, it's pulled by gravity from the Sun. Gravity acts like an invisible string, it keeps the Earth going around the Sun. But because the pull isn't perfectly strong all the time (like when you're spinning the ball with even force), the path becomes elliptical instead of a perfect circle.

If gravity were always exactly the same strength, like if you swung the ball at a constant speed, it would go in a circle. But since gravity gets weaker as you move farther away, the Earth sometimes slows down and stretches out its path into an ellipse. It's like when you swing the ball, and for a moment, you let it go just enough to make that oval shape before pulling it back.

So, gravity is what makes objects in space follow elliptical orbits, not magic, it’s just how things move when they're pulled by something else!