The formula for the center of mass is:

∑ mi x i
x= i=1
M

Where

N is the number of objects

m is the mass of the object
x is the distance of the center of mass of the object from the origin
M is the total mass of all the objects.

So, for the first two meter sticks:

m 1 x 1+ m 2 x 2
x=
m 1+ m 2
Since the mass of all meter sticks are 1, this means that:

m=m1=m2=1

x 1+ x 2
x=
1+1
x1 + x2
¿
2
x 1=0.5 m

x 2=0.5+0.046=0.546 m

Therefore, the center of mass of the first two meter sticks is:

( 0.5+0.546 )
x=
2
x=0.523 m ¿ origin
For the center of mass of all ten meter sticks:

m 1 x 1+ m 2 x 2+ m3 x 3+ ...+ m10 x10

x=
m1 +m 2 +m 3 +...+m 10
All masses are equal to 1 so:

x 1+ x 2 + x 3+ x 4+ x5 + x 6 + x 7 + x 8+ x 9 + x 10
x=
10
You can get x1, x2, x3, and so on by simply adding the meter stick’s distance from the origin to 0.5m (this
is the center of mass of a meter stick). Simply put, if you move the meter stick a distance away from the
origin, then its center of mass will move an equal amount of distance. So,

x 1=0.5 m
x 6=0.5+ 0.323=0.823 m
x 2=0.5+0.046=0.546 m
x 7=0.5+ 0. 438=0. 938 m
x 3=0.5+ 0.099=0.599 m
x 8=0.5+ 0.595=1.095 m
x 4 =0.5+0.16=0.66 m
x 9=0.5+ 0.835=1.335 m
x 5=0.5+ 0.233=0.733 m
x 10=0.5+1. 32=1.82

10

∑ xi9.049
x= i=1 =
10 10
x=0.9049 ¿ origin