Centre of Gravity Method for

location Problem

Lecture delivered by:

Prof. SP Sarmah
 Introduction
• The planners of a state want to decide the place of the
Capital in central position of a state.
• First they want to locate it by considering the
boundaries of State and selecting the location that
centres the State geographically.
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Location of City’s in state

 Geographic Centre
The map shows a square representing the approximate location of the
geographic centre and the table shows the approximate distance of
capitals from centre.

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Geographic center for City’s

 City # Latitude Longitude Population Approx Dist to Capital (Miles)
1 -16.6 154.8 16,55,000 588
2 -16.7 156.8 23,00,000 707
3 -16.8 153.2 6,01,000 489
4 -17 154 13,85,000 527
5 -17 152 12,30,000 415
6 -17.2 144.9 6,65,000 318
7 -17.5 155.7 6,64,000 615
8 -17.4 147.1 8,85,000 250
9 -17.5 141.1 11,16,000 503
10 -17.8 155.1 6,36,000 569
11 -17.9 153.8 12,00,000 484
12 -18 144.6 1,48,000 288
13 -18.4 142.4 8,54,000 395
14 -18.9 156.8 14,73,000 658
15 -19.3 148.3 6,15,000 130
16 -19.4 152.9 11,45,000 389
17 -19.4 142.8 6,27,000 343
18 -19.9 143.7 5,42,000 273
19 -20.3 152.5 3,79,000 348
20 -21.2 143.7 9,64,000 263
21 -21.6 155.6 5,46,000 560
22 -22.6 140.1 7,06,000 522
23 -23.4 155.8 7,27,000 596
24 -24 144.4 6,69,000 298
25 -24.9 146.4 9,31,000 280

Capital Location: -21 147.5 471

<<--- Weighted Average
Distance
• Distance between two points can be calculated by using the
following formula:

Dist (miles) = 69 (Long a - Long b ) 2 + ( Lat a − Latb ) 2

Dist (Kms) = 111 (Long a - Long b ) 2 + ( Lat a − Latb ) 2

• Here 69 and 111 is the conversion factor of degrees into mile and
Kms respectively.

• By using the above formula, distance is calculated between center

and the citizens.

• The result is that if capital is located at the center than it will be on

average 471 miles away from citizens.
 Physics Centre of Gravity

 P Long
c c
Long cap =cC

P cC
c

 P Latc c
Latcap =cC

P
cC
c

• Long represents a city’s longitude, Lat represents its latitude, and

Pc represents a city’s population.

• Population is the weighting factor.

• According to Physics Centre of Gravity, the coordinates of Capital
are -18.8 lat and 150.6 long.
• Calculation and location of capital are shown in Table and Map
below.
City # Latitude Longitude Population Approx Dist to Capital (Miles)
1 -16.6 154.8 16,55,000 327
2 -16.7 156.8 23,00,000 452
3 -16.8 153.2 6,01,000 226
4 -17 154 13,85,000 265
5 -17 152 12,30,000 157
6 -17.2 144.9 6,65,000 409
7 -17.5 155.7 6,64,000 363
8 -17.4 147.1 8,85,000 260
9 -17.5 141.1 11,16,000 662
10 -17.8 155.1 6,36,000 318
11 -17.9 153.8 12,00,000 229
12 -18 144.6 1,48,000 418
13 -18.4 142.4 8,54,000 566
14 -18.9 156.8 14,73,000 428
15 -19.3 148.3 6,15,000 162
16 -19.4 152.9 11,45,000 164
17 -19.4 142.8 6,27,000 540
18 -19.9 143.7 5,42,000 482
19 -20.3 152.5 3,79,000 167
20 -21.2 143.7 9,64,000 504
21 -21.6 155.6 5,46,000 395
22 -22.6 140.1 7,06,000 770
23 -23.4 155.8 7,27,000 479
24 -24 144.4 6,69,000 558
25 -24.9 146.4 9,31,000 511
Capital Location: -18.8 150.6 388 <<--- Weighted Average Distance
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Location based on Physics Center of Gravity

 Results

• Capital falls in a shark infested water offshore from a

mountainous and deserted region.

• Hence the people would not be happy although the average

distance a citizen has to travel has come down to 388 miles -
an improvement by 83 miles!

• But it proves impractical and hence not accepted.

 Why Physics COG method cannot be used?

• It might point to a place in middle of a sea or on the top of a

mountain or middle of a desert etc.

• It might not land at a place to exploit the existing

infrastructure.

• The method cannot take advantage of true road distances or

travel restrictions.

• It cannot be extended to take care of different products, costs,

multiple level of facilities (like suppliers, warehouses,
factories etc) or other practical considerations.
 What it Minimizes?

Let’s take a simplified example:

• Consider a slightly idealized version of the State .

• Suppose the state have 1.3 million population and 0.9 million
people lives in city A and 0.4 million lives in City B
• We need to determine how far south from City A to place the
capital.
 Location of
Capital

City A City B
X 100-X

Population: 0.90 Million Population:0.40 Million

Distance between the two cities is 100 miles

 Calculation of person mile
• If Capital is at City A, then X = 0 and if at City B then X= 100
Total Person Miles T = 9,00,000 X + 4,00,000 (100-X)
If X= 0, on average a person has to travel 31 miles to reach
capital (40/1.3)

And if X = 50, a person has to travel 50 Miles (65/1.3) on

Average
If X=100, a person has to travel 69 Miles (90/1.3) on average

• Hence minimum person miles is 31 and hence Capital should

be at City A. Isn’t it? It follows a straight line starting from 31
miles at City A to 69 miles, if located at City B.
Recap from Earlier Discussion of Gravity method
m m
Minimize TC =  i i
w (
i =1
x − x ) 2
+  i i
w ( y
i =1
− y ) 2

Since the objective function can be shown to be convex,

partially differentiating TC with respect to x and y, setting
the resulting two equations to 0 and solving for x, y
provides the optimal location of the new facility

TC m m
= 2 wi x − 2 wi xi = 0
x i =1 i =1
m m
 x = w
i =1
i xi w
i =1
i
 Physics COG method
• Here, X coordinate would be determined by using COG
method as Y coordinate is zero.
X= (900,000 * 0+ 400,000 * 100)/1,300,000 = 31 Miles.

• Hence, Capital should be located 31 miles from City A

• In this case, the person mile for this distance works out to
be 43 Miles /person
X= (900,000 * 31+ 400,000 * 69)/1,300,000 = 43 Miles/person.
• which is worse than 31 miles per person if located at City A.
So where is the catch?
 What is being Minimized?
• Assume
S = 900000*(X-0)2+ 400000* (100-X)2

Taking derivative of S w. r. t. X and equating it to 0, we get

X = 31

Hence the capital should be located at a distance of 31 miles from

City A.

It minimizes total citizen miles-squared value S rather than total

citizen miles T.
 Inference
Physics Centre of Gravity Model(Weighted Average) is good
for balancing a tray/basket or stabilizing a plane but not
suitable for Supply Chain/Logistics Network Design
 Practical Centre of Gravity Models

• In practical center of gravity model, cities were picked randomly

and weighted-average distance is calculated.

• For example, suppose in previous problem, we simply pick the three

Eastern cities of 5, 16, and 11 as the centres.

• For selecting capital from this cities some key statistics required
which is shown in tables and maps below.
 City 5
City # Latitude Longitude Population Approx Dist to Capital (Miles)
1 -16.6 154.8 16,55,000 195
2 -16.7 156.8 23,00,000 332
3 -16.8 153.2 6,01,000 84
4 -17 154 13,85,000 138
5 -17 152 12,30,000 0
6 -17.2 144.9 6,65,000 490 Percent of Citizens Within
7 -17.5 155.7 6,64,000 258
8 -17.4 147.1 8,85,000 339
Certain Distance to Capital
9 -17.5 141.1 11,16,000 753 % within
10 -17.8 155.1 6,36,000 221
8%
11 -17.9 153.8 12,00,000 139
100 miles
12 -18 144.6 1,48,000 515 % within
32%
13 -18.4 142.4 8,54,000 669
200 miles
14 -18.9 156.8 14,73,000 356
15 -19.3 148.3 6,15,000 301 % within
39%
16 -19.4 152.9 11,45,000 177
300 miles
17 -19.4 142.8 6,27,000 656
18 -19.9 143.7 5,42,000 607
19 -20.3 152.5 3,79,000 230
20 -21.2 143.7 9,64,000 642
21 -21.6 155.6 5,46,000 403
22 -22.6 140.1 7,06,000 907
23 -23.4 155.8 7,27,000 514
24 -24 144.4 6,69,000 713
25 -24.9 146.4 9,31,000 668 <<--- Weighted Average
Capital Location: -17 152 380 Distance
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City 5 as center
 City 16
Longitud
City # Latitude Population Approx Dist to Capital (Miles)
e
1 -16.6 154.8 16,55,000 233
2 -16.7 156.8 23,00,000 327
3 -16.8 153.2 6,01,000 181
4 -17 154 13,85,000 182
5 -17 152 12,30,000 177
6 -17.2 144.9 6,65,000 572 Percent of Citizens Within
7 -17.5 155.7 6,64,000 233
8 -17.4 147.1 8,85,000 423
Certain Distance to Capital
9 -17.5 141.1 11,16,000 825 % within
10 -17.8 155.1 6,36,000 188 7%
11 -17.9 153.8 12,00,000 121 100 miles
12 -18 144.6 1,48,000 581 % within
13 -18.4 142.4 8,54,000 728 29%
14 -18.9 156.8 14,73,000 271 200 miles
15 -19.3 148.3 6,15,000 317
% within
16 -19.4 152.9 11,45,000 0 48%
17 -19.4 142.8 6,27,000 697 300 miles
18 -19.9 143.7 5,42,000 636
19 -20.3 152.5 3,79,000 68
20 -21.2 143.7 9,64,000 647
21 -21.6 155.6 5,46,000 240
22 -22.6 140.1 7,06,000 910
23 -23.4 155.8 7,27,000 341
24 -24 144.4 6,69,000 667
25 -24.9 146.4 9,31,000 588
Capital Location: -19.4 152.9 378 <<--- Weighted Average Distance
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City 16 as center
 City 11
City # Latitude Longitude Population Approx Dist to Capital (Miles)
1 -16.6 154.8 16,55,000 113
2 -16.7 156.8 23,00,000 223
3 -16.8 153.2 6,01,000 86
Percent of Citizens Within
4 -17 154 13,85,000 64
5 -17 152 12,30,000 139
Certain Distance to Capital
6 -17.2 144.9 6,65,000 616 % within
7 -17.5 155.7 6,64,000 134 17%
8 -17.4 147.1 8,85,000 464
100 miles
9 -17.5 141.1 11,16,000 877 % within
10 -17.8 155.1 6,36,000 90 39%
11 -17.9 153.8 12,00,000 0
200 miles
12 -18 144.6 1,48,000 635 % within
13 -18.4 142.4 8,54,000 787 58%
14 -18.9 156.8 14,73,000 218
300 miles
15 -19.3 148.3 6,15,000 392
16 -19.4 152.9 11,45,000 121
17 -19.4 142.8 6,27,000 766
18 -19.9 143.7 5,42,000 710
19 -20.3 152.5 3,79,000 188
20 -21.2 143.7 9,64,000 733
21 -21.6 155.6 5,46,000 284
22 -22.6 140.1 7,06,000 999
23 -23.4 155.8 7,27,000 404
24 -24 144.4 6,69,000 773
25 -24.9 146.4 9,31,000 703
-17.9 153.8 370 <<--- Weighted Average Distance
Capital Location:
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City 11 as center
 COG City 5 City 16 City 11

Avg Distance 388 380 378 370

% within 100 0% 8% 7% 17%

% within 200 15% 32% 29% 39%

% within 300 33% 39% 48% 58%

• This approach is better than the Physics center of Gravity.

• Now logistics planner will analyze more cities to know the best
location.
 COG City 5 City 16 City 11 City 22 City 20 City 15 City 4 City 10

Avg 388 380 378 370 800 585 428 381 399
Distance

% 0% 8% 7% 17% 3% 7% 3% 24% 24%

within
100

% 15% 32% 29% 39% 3% 12% 7% 48% 49%

within
200

% 33% 39% 48% 58% 10% 23% 12% 56% 58%

within
300
 Inference

• Cities 4 and 10 are interesting.

• These are further away from Physics or mathematical centre.

• Both have 24% population within 100 miles.

• City 10 dominates the percentage within 200 and 300 miles.

• City 10 happens to be very close to vast majority.

 Observations
• Comparing candidate locations allows the planners exploit the
richness of the problem (trade off between average distance
with percentage within certain distance.)

• The more realistic and practical formulation of the problem is

best solved by Linear and Integer Program techniques.

• The technique used would ensure minimization of weighted

average distance, picks locations we can use. This could be
further expanded to include other factors also.
9/2/2022 ISE | IIT Kharagpur. 31