ES 1022y Engineering Statics Centre of Gravity and Centroids

Centre of Gravity and Centroids

Concepts
The centre of gravity is a point which locates the resultant weight of a system of particles
or a body. Similarly, the centre of mass is a point which locates the resultant mass of a
system of particles or a body. In general, the location of the centre of mass is the same as
that of the centre of gravity.

The centroid is a point which defines the geometric centre of an object. If the material
composing a body is homogenous (density or specific weight is constant throughout the
body), the position of the centroid coincides with the centre of mass or the centre of
gravity. If an object has an axis of symmetry, then the centroid of object lies on that axis.
Finally, note that in some cases the centroid is not actually on the object.

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

Consider a system of n particles in space. The resultant weight is equal to

Summing moments about the y axis we can write

where
x , y , and z represent the coordinates of the centre of gravity G of the system of
particles regardless of orientation of the x, y, z axes, and

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~
xi , ~y i , and ~
z i represent the coordinates of each particle.

Noting that we can write similar equations for moments about the x and z axes, the
coordinates of the centre of gravity are given by

Since the weight can be written as

provided that the acceleration due to gravity is the same for each particle, the coordinates
of the centre of mass can be shown to be given by

Centre of Gravity and Centre of Mass for a Body

A rigid body can be considered to be composed of an infinite number of particles. In this

case we obtain the coordinates of the centre of gravity by replacing the summation sign
by an integral sign, and the weight W of each particle by the elemental weight dW which
yields

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The coordinates of the centre of mass can be found by writing the weight as

which leads to

Centroid of a Body
If the material composing a body is uniform or homogeneous the density will be constant
throughout the body and will cancel out of the above integrals. Since they are now
independent of the body’s weight, and only depend on the body’s geometry the resulting
equations define the position of the centroid of the body.

For a volume we can write

while for an area we can write

and for a line

Finally, if an object has an axis of symmetry then the centroid of the object lies on that
axis.

Procedure for Analysis

• Choose an appropriate differential element dL, dA, or dV located at a general point

(x, y). If y is easily expressed in terms of x (for example y = x2 + 1), use a vertical
rectangular element (see (b) below). If the converse is true, then use a horizontal
rectangular element (see (c) below).

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• Express dL, dA, or dV in terms of the differential thickness dx or dy as appropriate

(for (b) dA = ydx, while for (a) dA = xdy).
• Determine the coordinates ( ~ x, ~y ) of the centroid of the element in terms of the
general point (x, y).
• Express all the variables and integral limits in the formula using either x or y
depending on whether the differential element is in terms of dx or dy respectively, and
integrate.

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Example Problem

Locate the centroid of the shaded area.

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Composite Bodies
A composite body consists of a series of connected ‘simpler’ shaped bodies, which may
be rectangular, triangular, semicircular, etc. If the weight and location of the centre of
gravity is known for each of these simpler shapes, the position of the centre of gravity for
the entire body can be found by considering each of the simpler shapes as a particle, and
following the procedure outlined earlier in this chapter.

a
c b
d

Consider the body shown above. This body can be divided into the following pieces:
a) a rectangle,
b) a triangle,
c) a quarter circle, and
d) a semicircle.

Note that if a composite part has a hole, the composite part is first considered without the
hole, before treating the hole as an additional composite part having negative weight or
size. Thus in the example above we would treat the composite body as though it were
rectangle (a) + triangle (b) + quarter circle (c) − semicircle (d).

Procedure for Analysis

• Divide the body into pieces that are known shapes. Holes are considered as pieces
with negative weight or size.
• Make a table with the first column for segment number, the second column for
weight, mass, or size (depending on the problem), the next set of columns for the
moment arms, and, finally, several columns for recording results of simple
intermediate calculations.
• Fix the coordinate axes, determine the coordinates of the center of gravity of centroid
of each piece, and then fill-in the table.
• Sum the columns to get x , y , and z . Use formulas like

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Example Problem

Locate the centroid of the concrete beam having the tapered cross section shown.

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