Centroids

Consider a region in the plane of area A. We can think of the region as a thin plate with uniform thickness
and density. The centroid of the region has coordinates (x, y). It can be found using
Z Z
1 1
x= xe dA and y = ye dA
A A A A
where (xe , ye ) is the coordinates of the centroid of the differential element of area dA.

Example 1. Find the centroid of the region bounded by the curve y = x3 and the lines y = 0 and x = 2.

Solution. We will use differential elements consisting of rectangular vertical slices of height y and width dx.
This means that variable x will be the variable of integration.
y

8 y = x3

(xe , ye )

x
0 dx 2
x
We first find the area A.
2 2 2
x4  24
Z Z Z
3
A= dA = y dx = x dx = = =4
A 0 |{z} 0 4 0 4
dA

Now, observe that the centroid of the differential element has coordinates (xe , ye ) where
y
xe = x and ye = .
2
Therefore, 2
Z 2 Z 2 Z 2
x5  25
Z
3 4 32
xe dA = x y dx = x(x ) dx = x dx = = =
A 0 |{z} 0 0 5 0  5 5
dA
and 2
2 2 2 2
y2 (x3 )2 x6 x7  27
Z Z Z Z Z
y 64
ye dA = y dx = dx = dx = dx = = = .
A 0 2 |{z} 0 2 0 2 0 2 14 0 14 7
dA
We can now find the coordinates of the centroid.
Z Z
1 32/5 8 1 64/7 16
x= xe dA = = and y= ye dA = =
A A 4 5 A A 4 7
We conclude that the centroid is located at the following point.
 
8 16
(x, y) = ,
5 7
Gilles Cazelais. Typeset with LATEX on May 22, 2008.
 √
Example 2. Find the centroid of the region bounded by the curve y = x and the lines x = 0 and y = 3.

Solution. We will use differential elements consisting of rectangular horizontal slices of height x and width dy.
This means that variable y will be the variable of integration.
y

(xe , ye )

√
y= x
dy y

x
0 x 9

Observe that √
y= x implies that x = y 2 .

Let’s find the area A. 3

3 3
y 3  33
Z Z Z
2
A= dA = x dy = y dy =  = =9
A 0 |{z} 0 3 0 3
dA

Now, observe that the centroid of the differential element has coordinates (xe , ye ) where
x
xe = and ye = y.
2
Therefore,
3 3 3 3 3
x2 (y 2 )2 y4 y 5  35
Z Z Z Z Z
x 243
xe dA = x dy = dy = dy = dy = = =
A 0 2 |{z} 0 2 0 2 0 2 10 0  10 10
dA

and 3
3 3 3
y 4  34
Z Z Z Z
81
ye dA = y x dy = y(y 2 ) dy = y 3 dy = = = .
A 0 |{z} 0 0 4 0  4 4
dA

We can now find the coordinates of the centroid.

Z Z
1 243/10 27 1 81/4 9
x= xe dA = = and y= ye dA = =
A A 9 10 A A 9 4

We conclude that the centroid is located at the following point.

 
27 9
(x, y) = ,
10 4

2
Let’s now consider the area between two curves. First consider the area bounded by the curves y = f (x) and
y = g(x) over a ≤ x ≤ b.
y
(xe , ye )
y = f (x)

x y = g(x)

a x
b
dx

In this case, we have

f (x) + g(x)
xe = x and ye = .
2
Therefore,
Z Z b
A= dA = (f (x) − g(x)) dx
A a | {z }
dA
Z Z b Z Z b  
f (x) + g(x)
xe dA = x (f (x) − g(x)) dx and ye dA = (f (x) − g(x)) dx .
A a | {z } A a 2 | {z }
dA dA

???

Now consider the area bounded by the curves x = f (y) and x = g(y) over c ≤ y ≤ d.
y
x = g(y) x = f (y)
d

(xe , ye )
dy
y
x

In this case, we have

f (y) + g(y)
xe = and ye = y.
2
Therefore,
Z Z d
A= dA = (f (y) − g(y)) dy
A c | {z }
dA
Z Z d   Z Z d
f (y) + g(y)
xe dA = (f (y) − g(y)) dy and ye dA = y (f (y) − g(y)) dy
A c 2 | {z } A c | {z }
dA dA

3
Example 3. Find the centroid of the region between the curves y = 2x and y = x2 over the interval 0 ≤ x ≤ 2.

Solution. We will use differential elements consisting of rectangular vertical slices of width dx. This means
that variable x will be the variable of integration.
y

y = 2x
(xe , ye )

x
y = x2

x
0 dx 2

Let’s find the area A.

2 2
x3 
Z Z 
2 2 8 4
A= dA = (2x − x ) dx = x − =4− =
A 0 | {z } 3 0 3 3
dA

Now, observe that

2x + x2
xe = x and ye = .
2
Therefore,
2 2 2
2x3 x4 
Z Z Z 
16 4
xe dA = x (2x − x2 ) dx = (2x2 − x3 ) dx = − = −4=
A 0 | {z } 0 3 4 0 3 3
dA

and
2 2 2
2x + x2 4x2 − x4 2x3 x5 
Z Z   Z 
16 16 32
ye dA = (2x − x2 ) dx = dx = − = − = .
A 0 2 | {z } 0 2 3 10 0 3 5 15
dA

We can now find the coordinates of the centroid.

Z Z
1 4/3 1 32/15 8
x= xe dA = =1 and y= ye dA = =
A A 4/3 A A 4/3 5

We conclude that the centroid is located at the following point.

 
8
(x, y) = 1,
5

4
 √
Example 4. Find the centroid of the region bounded by the curves y = 3 − x, y = x − 1, and y = 0.

Solution. We will use differential elements consisting of horizontal vertical slices of width dy. This means that
variable y will be the variable of integration.
y
y =3−x
2
√
y= x−1
(xe , ye )

dy
y
x
0 1 3

√
Let’s find the point of intersection of y = 3 − x and y = x − 1.
√
3 − x = x − 1 =⇒ 9 − 6x + x2 = x − 1 =⇒ x2 − 7x + 10 = 0 =⇒ (x − 2)(x − 5) = 0

We conclude that x = 2 is the solution. Then, the point of intersection is (2, 1). Now, observe that
√
y = x − 1 =⇒ x = y 2 + 1 and y = 3 − x =⇒ x = 3 − y.

We can describe the region as the region between the curves x = y 2 + 1 and x = 3 − y over 0 ≤ y ≤ 1.

Let’s find the area A.

1 1 1
y2 y 3 
Z Z Z 
7
(3 − y) − (y 2 + 1) dy = (2 − y − y 2 ) dy =
 
A= dA = 2y − − =
A 0 | {z } 0 2 3 0  6
dA

Now, observe that

(3 − y) + (y 2 + 1)
xe = and ye = y.
2
Therefore,
1 Z 1
(3 − y) + (y 2 + 1)  (3 − y)2 − (y 2 + 1)2
Z Z  
(3 − y) − (y 2 + 1) dy =

xe dA = dy
A 0 2 | {z } 0 2
dA
1 2 4
1
3y 2 y3 y 5 

8 − 6y − y − y
Z
67
= dy = 4y − − − =
0 2 2 6 10 0  30
and 1
1 1
y3 y 4 
Z Z Z 
5
y (3 − y) − (y 2 + 1) dy 2 3 2
 
ye dA = (2y − y − y ) dy = y − − =
A 0 | {z } 0 3 4 0  12
dA

We can now find the coordinates of the centroid.

Z Z
1 67/30 67 1 5/12 5
x= xe dA = = and y= ye dA = =
A A 7/6 35 A A 7/6 14
We conclude that the centroid is located at the following point.
 
67 5
(x, y) = ,
35 14