Faculty of Engineering and

Technical Studies

Mechanical engineering science

Centroids and Moment of Inertia

Dr. Kavian O. Cooke

Mechanical Engineering Dept.
University of Technology, Jamaica
 Outline

Introduction
Objectives
Centre of Gravity and Centre of Mass for System of
Particles
 Centre of Gravity
 Centre of Gravity for a System with n Particles
 Centre of Mass
Centre of Mass, Centre of Gravity and Centroid for
Composite Body
 Procedure for Analysis
Summary

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 Centre of Gravity and Centre of Mass for a
System of Particles

Centre of Gravity

 The center of gravity, G for a body is a point which locates the

gravity or weight of the body.
 The gravity or weight of the body is normally represented by
W. Theoretically, a body can be thought to consist of particles
and the gravity will act on each particle in the body.
 Therefore, this gravity force can be represented by a small
force W. This small force is uniformly distributed throughout
the body.

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 Centre of Gravity and Centre of Mass for a
System of Particles
Centre of Gravity for a System of n Particles
 The weights of the particles comprise a system of parallel forces
which can be replaced by a single equivalent resultant weight having
the defined point G of application.

 To find the x , y , z coordinates of

G, we must use the moment
principle. For a body to be in
static equilibrium, the resultant
weight must be equal to the total
weights of all n particles, i.e.,

WR   W
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 Centre of Gravity and Centre of Mass for
a System of Particles
Centre of Gravity for a System of n Particles
 The sum of the moment of the weights of all the particles
about the x, y and z is equal to the moment of the resultant
x the coordinate of
weight about these axes. Thus, to calculate
G, we can take the sum of moments about the y axis. This will
give
x WR  ~x1W1  ~
x2W2    ~ xnWn

y summation of moments about the x

 Similarly, by taking the
axis, we will get the coordinate, i.e.
yWR  ~ y1W1  ~
y2W2    ~
ynWn
z
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 Centre of Gravity and Centre of Mass
for a System of Particles
Centre of Gravity for a System of n Particles

 Thus, to calculate the z coordinate of G, we can take

the sum of moments about the y axis. This will give

z WR  ~
z1W1  ~z 2W2    ~
z nWn (3)
 Equations (1) to (3) can be presented in a generalized
form and symbolically written in

y
 ~y m x
 ~
xm
 ~
zm
z
m m  m
(5.4)

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 Centre of Gravity and Centre of Mass
for a System of Particles
Centre of Mass

 Center of mass is necessary to determine when we are dealing with the

problems related to dynamics, i.e. the motion of matter under the
influence of force.
 Provided that the acceleration of a body due to gravity g for every
particle is constant, thus we will have W = mg. Substituting into
equation 3 and by canceling g from the denominator and numerator, we
will have
~ ~ ~
x
 xm
y
 ym
z
 zm
m m m
 By comparison then, the center of gravity coincides with the center of
mass. From general principles of Statics, we already know that particles
will have weight only under the influence of gravitational force. The
center of mass, on the other hand is independent of gravity.
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 Centre of Mass, Centre of Gravity and
Centroid for Composite Body
 Composite body is a body that is made from several common shape
segments. Its center of gravity, G can be determined by expressing
the moment about O of its total weight is equal to the sum of the
moments about O of the weights of various component parts.
 The following equations can be used to determine the center of
gravity, center of mass and centroid of composite body.

~ ~ ~
(5.12) x   x m y
 ym z
 zm
where m m m
 x ,are
y , z the coordinates of the center of mass of the composite body.
 are the coordinates of the center of mass of each segment of the
composite
x , y, z body.
 m is the sum of the mass of the composite parts of the body.

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 Centre of Mass, Centre of Gravity and
Centroid for Composite Body
 Equation 5.12 can also be used for composite body that consists of lines,
areas and volume. Equations 5.13 to 5.15 can be utilize to determine the
center of gravity, center of mass and centroid for lines, areas and volumes.

For line: ~ ~ ~
x
 xL
y
 yL
z
 zL
L L L
For line:
~ ~ ~
x
 xA
y
 yA
z
 zA
A A A
For line:
~ ~y V ~z V
x
 xV
y
 z

V V V
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 Centre of Mass, Centre of Gravity and
Centroid for Composite Body
 Procedure for Analysis

1. Identify the composite body to be analyzed.

2. Clearly identify the parts that make up the composite body. These
parts are objects of basic shapes. They can be a triangle, rectangle,
circular arc, semicircular arc, hemisphere, cylinder and etc.
3. Identify the center of gravity or center of mass or centroid of each
parts, which is also called segments.
4. Locate this center of gravity or center of mass or centroid of this
part with respect to the coordinate axes given in the question.
5. Tabulate and write these coordinates of the center of gravity, center
of mass or centroid in the table and determine the center of gravity
or center of mass or centroid using the appropriate equations.

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 Example 5.7

Calculate the coordinates of the centroid ( ) of the shaded

x, y
area shown in Figure Example 5.17 (a).

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 Example 5.7
 Solution
Shaded area shown in Figure Example 5.7 (a) can be divided into three basic segments;
rectangle, triangle and semicircle as shown in Figure Example 5.17 (b).

Thus,
 A~x
1720812  A~
y 1411148
x   86.7mm y   71.1mm
 A 19845  A 19845
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 Sample Problem
SOLUTION:

• Divide the area into a triangle, rectangle, and semicircle

• Calculate
with a circular cutout.
the first moments of each area with respect to the
axes.

• Find the total area and first moments of the triangle,

rectangle, and semicircle. Subtract the area and first

For the plane area shown, determine the first moment of the circular cutout.

moments with respect to the x and y axes and the

• Compute the coordinates of the area centroid by dividing the

location of the centroid. first moments by the total area.

5 - 13
 Sample Problem

• Qx  506.2  103 mm 3
Find the total area and first moments of the triangle, rectangle, and
Q y  757.7  103 mm 3
semicircle. Subtract the area and first moment of the circular cutout. 5 - 14
 Sample Problem 5.1
• Compute the coordinates of the area centroid by dividing the first moments by the total area.

 x A  757.7  103 mm 3
X  
 A 13.828  103 mm 2

X  54.8 mm

 y A  506.2  103 mm 3
Y  
 A 13.828  103 mm 2
Y  36.6 mm
5 - 15
 Moment of Inertia

The second moment of area, also known as moment of inertia of plane area,

area moment of inertia, or second area moment, is a geometrical property of

an area which reflects how its points are distributed with regard to an

16 arbitrary axis.
Moments of Inertia for Composite Areas
 Composite area consist of a series of connected simpler
parts or shapes
 Moment of inertia of the composite area = algebraic
sum of the moments of inertia of all its parts

Procedure for Analysis

Composite Parts
 Divide area into its composite parts and indicate the
centroid of each part to the reference axis
Parallel Axis Theorem
 Moment of inertia of each part is determined about its
centroidal axis
Moments of Inertia for Composite Areas

Procedure for Analysis

Parallel Axis Theorem
 When centroidal axis does not coincide with the
reference axis, the parallel axis theorem is used
Summation
 Moment of inertia of the entire area about the reference
axis is determined by summing the results of its
composite parts
 Parallel Axis Theorem for an Area
For moment of inertia of an area known about an axis
passing through its centroid, determine the moment of
inertia of area about a corresponding parallel axis
using the parallel axis theorem
Consider moment of inertia
of the shaded area
A differential element dA is
located at an arbitrary distance
y’ from the centroidal x’ axis
 Second integral = 0 since x’ passes through the area’s centroid
C
 y ' dA  y  dA  0; y0

 Third integral represents the total area A

I x  I x  Ad y2
 Similarly
I y  I y  Ad x2
 Example
Example 10.5
Compute the moment of
inertia of the composite
area about the x axis.
Solution
Composite Parts
Composite area obtained by
subtracting the circle form the
rectangle
Centroid of each area is
located in the figure
Solution
Parallel Axis Theorem
Circle

I x  I x '  Ad y2
1
4
2 2
 
  25   25 75  11 .4 10 6 mm 4
4

Rectangle

I x  I x '  Ad y2
1

12
 
100 150 3  100 150 752  112 .5 106 mm 4
Solution
Summation
For moment of inertia for the composite area,

 6
I x  11 .4 10  112.5 10   6

 
 101 10 mm6 4
Example 10.6
Determine the moments
of inertia of the beam’s
cross-sectional area
about the x and y
centroidal axes.
Solution
Composite Parts
Considered as 3 composite areas A,
B, and D
Centroid of each area is located in
the figure
Solution
Parallel Axis Theorem
Rectangle A

I x  I x '  Ad y2
1
 100300  100300200  1.425109 mm 4
3 2

12
I y  I y '  Ad x2
1
 300100  100300250  1.90109 mm 4
3 2

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Solution
Parallel Axis Theorem
Rectangle B

I x  I x '  Ad y2
1

12
3
 
600100  0.05 109 mm 4
I y  I y '  Ad x2
1

12
 
1006003  1.80 109 mm 4
Solution
Parallel Axis Theorem
Rectangle D

I x  I x '  Ad y2
1
 100300  100300200  1.425109 mm 4
3 2

12
I y  I y '  Ad x2
1
 3001003  1003002502  1.90109 mm 4
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Solution
Summation
For moment of inertia for the entire cross-sectional
area,

   
9
 
9
I x  1.425 10  0.05 10  1.425 10 9

 2.9010 mm9 4

I  1.9010  1.8010  1.9010 

y
9 9 9

 5.6010 mm9 4
31
 Summary
 Chapter 5 concentrates on the center of gravity, center of mass and
centroid.
 The concept was introduced for a composite bodies. A simpler
approach is graphically discussed, where the bodies were
segmented into several basic shapes and tabulated in the form of a
table.
 Using the appendix of center of gravity, center of mass and centroid
for basic objects, the center of gravity, center of mass and centroid
were determined from an algebraic summation.

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 Thank You

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