Chemical Engineering Department

Lecture 11
Centre of Gravity

Presenter: Dr. Rizwan Khan

Date: 21/07/2020
Batch: 19CH
Introduction to Centre of Gravity
It has been established, since long, that every particle of a body is attracted
by the earth towards its centre.

The force of attraction, which is proportional to the mass of the particle,

acts vertically downwards and is known as weight of the body.

We have already learned in previous chapters that a point may be found

out in a body, through which the resultant of all such parallel forces act.
This point, through which the whole weight of the body acts, irrespect of
its position, is known as centre of gravity (briefly written as C.G.).
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
Methods for Centre of Gravity
The centre of gravity (or centroid) may be found out by any one of the
following methods:
1. By geometrical considerations
2. By moments
3. By graphical method

As a matter of fact, the graphical method is a time consuming method for

finding out the centre of gravity. Thus, we shall discuss the procedure for
finding out the centre of gravity of simple figures by geometrical
considerations.
Centre of gravity by geometrical considerations

The C.G. of a uniform rod lies at its middle point as shown in figure below.
The C.G. of a triangle lies at the point where all the three
medians intersect each other.
The C.G. of a rectangle (or a parallelogram or a square) lies at the
point where its diagonals intersect each other. It is also the point of
intersection of the middle points of the opposite sides.
The center of gravity of a circle lies at its centre.
Thank You