Kwame Nkrumah University of

Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

CHAPTER 1: MOMENTS OF
AREA

Name: Daniel A. Anang

Department: Chemical Engineering

CASLEY HAYFORD BUILDING, F25.

First moment and Centroid of Area.
 First moment and Centroid of Composite
Area.
 Second moment of Area and Radius of
Gyration.
 Moment of Inertia of Composite Area.
 Polar moment of Inertia.
 Parallel Axis Theorem for Moment of Inertia.
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1.1 First moment and Centroid of an Area
Consider an area A located in the x-y plane shown
below.

The area of the geometric figure is

The 1st moment of area wrt x-axis is

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The 1st moment of area wrt y-axis is

The coordinates 𝑥 and 𝑦 of the centroid are equal

to the 1st moments divided by the area.

Or

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1.1.1 Locating the centroid of a solid material
a. If an area is symmetric about an axis, the
centroid must lie on that axis because the first
moment about an axis of symmetry equals zero.

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b. If an area has two axes of symmetry, the position
of the centroid can be determined by intersection
of the axes of symmetry.

Therefore, the centroid coincides with the axes of

symmetry.

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c. If an area possesses a center of symmetry O, the
first moment of the area about any axis through O is
zero.

It follows that Qx = Qy = 0. It also shows that 𝑥 = 𝑦= 0

d. If an area has irregular boundaries not defined by

simple mathematical expressions, we can locate the
centroid by numerically evaluating the integrals.

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Example 1.1 a
Determine the 1st moment of area of a rectangular
area shown in figure E1.1a

O b

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Example 1.1 b
For the triangular figure E1.1b, determine
a. the 1st moment Qx of area
b. the ordinate 𝑦 of the centroid of the area.
y

x
b

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Example 1.1 c
A parabolic semisegment OAB is bounded by the x
axis, the y-axis, and a parabolic curve having its
vertex at A (figure E1.1c). The equation of the curve is

𝑥2
𝑦 =𝑓 𝑥 =ℎ 1− 2
𝑏

in which b is the base and h is the height of the

semisegment. Locate the centroid C of the semisegment.
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Note: The formula for rectangular areas may also
be applied to strips parallel to the axes,

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1.2 First moment and Centroid of Composite Area
To find the Centroid of area A, it will
be prudent to divide it into simple
geometric shapes shown below.
A

O
The 1st moment of A wrt the x-axis is

A2

Therefore,
A3
A1

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For any # of component areas, we can write

The coordinates 𝑋 and 𝑌 of the centroid C of the

composite area A, can be obtained from

20

.C
Example 1.2a 60
Determine the 1st moment through the A
centroidal axes and hence locate 40
20 20
the centroid C of area A.
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Example 1.2 b
Find the centroid of the
unequal angle 200 × 150 ×
12 mm shown in
figure E1.2b

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Example 1.2 c
Locate the centroid of the
material shown in figure
1.2c.

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1.3 Second Moment of Area (Moments of Inertia)
and Radius of Gyration
Consider area A located in the
xy plane and an element dA of
coordinates x and y.

The second moment of area or moment of inertia

of area A wrt x and y axes are

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The radii of gyration wrt x and y axes are:

Example 1.3a y

For the rectangle below, determine

a. the moment of inertia Ix of the h
O x

area wrt to the centroidal x-axis.

b. the corresponding radius of gyration. b

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Example 1.3b
Determine the moment of inertia Ix and Iy for the
parabolic semisegment OAB
shown in the figure. The equation
of the parabolic boundary is

Note: The formula for rectangular areas may also be

applied to strips parallel to the axes.
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Example 1.3c
Determine the moment of inertia Ix of a triangle of
base b and height h with respect to its base in the
figure.

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1.4 Second Moment of Composite Area
The moment of Inertia of composite area wrt any axis
is the sum of the moment of inertia of its parts wrt to
that same axis.

Example 1.4a
Consider the hollow box section in
figure E1.4a shown below.
Determine the moment of inertia
with respect to the x-axis
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Example 1.4b
A semicircular area of radius 150 mm has a rectangular
cutout of dimensions 50 mm × 100 mm (see figure
E1.4b). Calculate the moments of inertia Ix and Iy with
respect to the x and y axes. Also, calculate the
corresponding radii of gyration rx and ry.

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1.5 Polar moment of Inertia
Consider an axis perpendicular to the
plane area in figure 1.8 and intersecting
the plane at the origin O.
The moment of inertia with respect to this
perpendicular axis is called the polar moment of inertia
denoted by Ip and

Where ρ is the distance from the point O to the

differential element of area dA.
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By inspection,
𝜌2 = 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2

Therefore,

𝐼𝑝 = 𝜌2 𝑑𝐴 = 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 𝑑𝐴 = 𝑥 2 𝑑𝐴 + 𝑦 2 𝑑𝐴

𝐼𝑝 = 𝐼𝑥 + 𝐼𝑦

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1.7 Parallel axis theorem for moment of inertia
Consider an area of arbitrary shape
with centroid C (figure 1.9). We
will also consider two sets of
coordinate axes: (1) the xcyc axes
with origin at centroid, and (2) a set
of parallel xy axes with origin at
any point O. The distances between the two sets of
parallel axes are denoted by d1 and d2.

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We can write the equation for the moment of inertia
Ix with respect to the x-axis:

This reduces to

Similarly, the moment of inertia Iy with respect to the

y-axis will be obtained as:

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Example 1.7a
Using figure E1.7a,
(a) Determine the centroidal
polar moment of inertia of the
circular area by direct integration.

(b) The polar moment of inertia of the circular area

with respect to any point B on its circumference.

(c) The rectangular moments of inertia Ix and Iy.

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Example 1.7b

Determine the moment of

inertia Ic with respect to an
axis through the centroid C
and parallel to the x axis
for the geometric in figure
E1.7b

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Example 1.7 c

The moment of inertia with

respect to axis 1-1 of the
scalene triangle shown in the
figure figure E1.7c1 is 90 ×103
mm4. Calculate its moment of
inertia I2 with respect to axis 2-2.

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THANK
YOU

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