Southern technical university.

Engineering technical college.

Engineering environmental and pollution technical.

Centroid and center of Gravity

Zaynab Makki Ali.

-Resalah Abdolelah Mohammed.

1
 INTRODECTION

The force of attraction of the earth for a particle

is called the weight of the particle. A body consists of a number of particles each of
which has a weight or force of attraction directed toward
the center of the earth. The resultant of this parallel* system of gravitational forces
in space is the weight of the body. The position of the
resultant weight when a body is in any position can be determined by
means of the principle of moments as indicated in Art. 2-7. If the body
is turned in space, the weights of the various particles do not retain the
same relative positions, and therefore the resultant weight may be in a
different position. The resultant weight does, however, pass through one
point in the body, or the body extended, for all orientations of the body,
and this point is defined as the center of gravity or center of mass of the
body. The position of the resultant weight of the body must be found
for two different orientations of the body in order to locate the one com
mon point denned as the center of gravity of the body. Although the
line of action of the resultant of a parallel force system in space can be
located by the two coordinates of the intersection of the action line of the
force with any plane perpendicular to the resultant force, three coordinates
are required to locate the center of gravity of a body (a point in space).
If a homogeneous body has a plane of symmetry, the center of gravity
is in that plane. Similarly the center of gravity of a homogeneous body
is located on any line of symmetry or at a point of symmetry. Thus
any symmetry possessed by a homogeneous body simplifies the work

2
involved in locating its center of gravity or center of mass.
3-2. The center of gravity of a system of particles. The procedure
for determining the coordinates of the center of gravity of a system of
particles is illustrated in the following example.
Example 3-1: Locate the center of gravity of four small bodies (considered as
particles) arranged as shown in Fig. 3-la.
Solution: The sum of the weights of the bodies is equal to the resultant force
(weight), which is
ft = 5.00lb I.
When the system is arranged with the y axis vertical as indicated in Fig. 3-la, the
location of the line of action of the resultant can be determined by summing
moments.
* For ordinary bodies the gravitational forces are essentially parallel.
t There is a negligible difference between the locations of the centers of gravity
and mass of a body because the weight of a particle varies as its distance from the
center of the earth changes.ͻ

3
about the x and z axes and applying the principle of moments as follows. The sum
of the moments of the weights with respect to the x axis is
M z = 0.50(4) - 2.00 in-lb.
from which z =∑M z /R= 0.400 in. from the x. y. plane toward D.
Al so Z = ∑M z = 2.00(6) = 12.00 in-lb.
from which Z = ∑M z /R =2.40 in. from the y z plane toward B.

The center of gravity is therefore on a line 0.40 in. in front of the x. y plane and
2.40 in.
to the right of the y. z plane as oriented in Fig. 3-la. The third coordinate of the
center of gravity can be obtained by rotating the system to a different position as in
Fig. 3-lb and again applying the principle of moments. Thus
∑M z = 1.00(3) = -3.00
From which
Y* = ∑ M z /R = 0.60 in. from

4
The X z plane toward C.

The three coordinates locating the center of

gravity, O, of the system are shown in Fig.
3-2. Drawing a sketch to locate the center of gravity of a body will often assist
in detecting obvious errors. The resultant weight of the four bodies A, B, C, and D
in Fig. 3-la will pass through point G as shown in Fig. 3-2 regardless of the
orientation of the system.

3-3. Particle Weight x, y, z coordinate* of position of particle in feet

A 2lb 2, 6, 3
B 51b -3, 4, 5
C 3 lb. 1, -3, -4
3-4.
A l Ib. -5, 6, -8
B 3 1b 2, -3, 4
C 4 1b 4, -1, -2
3-3. The center of gravity of a body. Since a body consists of an

5
infinite number of particles, the determination of the position of the
center of gravity by the method described in Art. 3-2 would be very

cumbersome if not impossible. A

general method of procedure can be
developed by considering the plate
in Fig. 3-3. The resultant weight
of the plate can be determined by
considering the plate to be made up
of an infinite number of small elements
each having a weight given by
the expression. D.W = y.t d. A

where d. W is the weight of an element, y is the specific weight of the

material (weight per unit volume), t is the thickness of the plate, and
d. A is the area of the element (surface area in x. y plane). The total
weight of the plate is

6
W = ʃ.yt d. A

The coordinates of a point on the line of action of the resultant weight

can be determined by the principle of moments. The moment of the
weight of the element about the x axis is

d. Mx = y d. W = y. γ t d A
Mx = ʃ y γ t d A.
And
The y coordinate of a point on the action line of the resultant is
Y* = Mx /W = ʃ y γ t d A / ʃ γ t d A (3-1)

In a similar manner the x coordinate of a point on the action line of the

resultant is found to be

X* = ʃ x γ t d A / ʃ γ t d A (3-2)

The center of gravity of the body is on a line parallel to the z axis through
the point (x, y). When t and y are constant, z can be obtained by symmetry.
If either t or 7 is a variable, the plate can be rotated so that either the x axis or the y
axis is vertical. Then the principle of moments gives
Z* = ʃ z γ d V / ʃ γ d V (3-3)

where d V is equal to d A dt.

3-4. Centroids. If the plate in Fig. 3-3 has a constant thickness and
is homogeneous (has a constant specific weight), the product ty in Eq.

7
(3-1) and (3-2) can be taken outside the integral signs and eliminated
from the equations, leaving

Y* = ʃ y d A / ʃ d A X* = ʃ x d A /ʃ d A (3-4)

In each of these equations the denominator is the surface area of the

plate in the x y plane and the numerator is called the first moment* of
the area with respect to the x or the y axes.
The point located by the coordinates x and y is defined as the centroid of the area
of the top surface of the plate. Since an area has no
thickness, the centroid must lie in the plane of the area, and two coordinates are
sufficient to locate it.
The first moment of an area about an axis is the product of the area
and the coordinate of the centroid measured from that axis. Consequently, the
moment of an area has the dimensions of L2 times L or L'
and has units of in.8, ft3, and so on. The moment of a force about an
axis was designated as clockwise or counterclockwise, depending on the
sense and position of the line of action of the force. An area, however,
is a scalar quantity and has no direction therefore the sign or sense of
the moment of an area depends only on the moment arm and is considered
to be positive if the area is on one side of the axis and negative if the area
is on the opposite side of the axis.
If an area has an axis of symmetry, the centroid is on that axis; and
if an area has two axes of symmetry, the centroid of the area is the point
of intersection of the two axes.
The principle of moments can be used in a similar manner to locate

8
the centroids of other geometrical figures such as lines, volumes, and
areas which do not lie in a plane and also to locate the center of mass of
a body. Whereas moments of forces and other vector quantities are
usually obtained with respect to reference lines or axes, the moments of
noncoplanar scalar quantities are usually considered with respect to
planes. Otherwise the moment arm might be in any direction and thus
could not be assigned a positive or negative sign.. In fact, the first
moments in Eq. (3-4) can be considered to be with respect to the x z and
y z planes instead of with respect to the x and y axes. A logical generalization may
then be made that first moments of vectors are taken with
respect to lines and first moments of scalar quantities with respect to
planes.
In general, the centroid of any geometrical figure (line, area, volume) is
a point in the figure or the figure extended located in such a manner that the
first moment of the figure with respect to any plane is the product of the length,
area, or volume multiplied by the distance from the plane to the centroid.
The first moment with respect to any plane through the centroid is
therefore zero.
Since mass is a scalar quantity, the mass center of a body is located
by summing moments with respect to coordinate planes. The position
of the center of gravity, a point on the action line of the resultant weight
(force), is determined by summing moments with respect to a set of axes.
As noted previously, however, the two points may be used interchange
ably in engineering problems.
Since mass is a scalar quantity, the mass center of a body is located
by summing moments with respect to coordinate planes. The position

9
of the center of gravity, a point on the action line of the resultant weight
(force), is determined by summing moments with respect to a set of axes.
As noted previously, however, the two points may be used interchange
ably in engineering problems.

Source: ENGINEERING MECHANICS

BY : ARCHIE HIGDON (Professor of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Iowa
Slate College).
AND WILLIAM B. STILES

10