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Center of Mass

Prepared and presented by:

Jose Marie C. Malgapo, ECE, LPT

At the end of the lesson, you are able to:

• identify and solve the center of mass of an
object.

INTENDED LEARNING
OUTCOME/s (ILOs)
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Whenever a homogeneous body

(uniformly distributed mass)
has a geometric center
(e.g., billiard ball, sugar cube,
a can of frozen orange juice),
the center of mass is at the
geometric center.
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Center of Mass
Suppose we have several particles 𝐴, 𝐵, etc., with masses 𝑚 , 𝑚 , …
Let the coordinates of 𝐴 be (𝑥 , 𝑦 ) let those of 𝐵 be (𝑥 , 𝑦 ) and so on.
We define the center of mass of the system as the point having
coordinates (𝑥 , 𝑦 ) given by
𝑚 𝑥 +𝑚 𝑥 +𝑚 𝑥 +⋯
𝑥 =
𝑚 +𝑚 +𝑚 +⋯

𝑚 𝑦 +𝑚 𝑦 +𝑚 𝑦 +⋯
𝑦 =
𝑚 +𝑚 +𝑚 +⋯

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Center of Mass
𝑚 𝑥 +𝑚 𝑥 +𝑚 𝑥 +⋯
𝑥 =
𝑚 +𝑚 +𝑚 +⋯

𝑚 𝑦 +𝑚 𝑦 +𝑚 𝑦 +⋯
𝑦 =
𝑚 +𝑚 +𝑚 +⋯

In statistical language, the center of mass

is a mass-weighted average position of
the particles.

A tug-of-war on the ice

Sample Problem

James (mass 90.0 𝑘𝑔) and Ramon (mass 60.0 𝑘𝑔)

are 20.0 𝑚 apart on a frozen pond.
Midway between them is a mug of their favorite beverage.

They pull on the ends of a

light rope stretched
between them.

When James has moved 6.0 𝑚 toward the mug,

how far and in what direction has Ramon moved?
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Block of Chocolate
Practice Problem

Three odd-shaped blocks of

chocolate have the following masses
and center-of-mass coordinates:

1) 0.300 𝑘𝑔, (0.200 𝑚, 0.300 𝑚)

2) 0.400 𝑘𝑔, (0.100 𝑚, −0.400 𝑚)
3) 0.200 𝑘𝑔, (−0.300 𝑚, 0.600 𝑚)

Find the coordinates of the center of mass

of the system of three chocolate blocks.

Whenever a body has an

axis of symmetry

(e.g., wheel or pulley),

the center of mass

always lie on that axis.

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There is no law that says the center of mass

has to be within the body,
hence, center of mass can
be outside the body.
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Center 𝐂𝐆

𝐂𝐆 of Mass
𝒘

𝒘
Area of support
Area of support Center of gravity is
within the area of
support:
car is in equilibrium.

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Center of Mass
𝐂𝐆
The higher the center 𝐂𝐆

of gravity, the smaller

the incline needed to
𝒘 tip the vehicle over.

Area of support Center of gravity is

outside the area of support:
vehicle tips over. Area of support

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References  Caintic, H. E. (n.d.). GENERAL PHYSICS 1

FOR SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL. Quezon
City, Philippines: C & E Publishing.

 Young, H. D., Geller, R. M., & Sears, F. W.

(2007). College physics. San Francisco:
Pearson/Addison Wesley.

 Young, H. D., Freedman, R. A., Ford, A. L.,

& Sears, F. W. (2016). Sears & Zemanskys
University physics. Boston: Pearson.

 Zitzewitz, P. W. et.al. (2005). PHYSICS

Principles and Problems. Ohio: The
McGraw-Hill Companies.

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Most people
spend more time and energy
going around problems
than in trying to solve them.

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