Center of Mass

of a
Solid of Revolution
 See-Saws

We all remember the fun

see-saw of our youth.

But what happens if . . .

Balancing Unequal Masses

Moral
Both the masses and their positions affect
whether or not the “see saw” balances.
Balancing Unequal Masses
M1
M2

d1 d2

Need:
M1 d1 = M2 d2
Changing our Point of View

The great Greek mathematician

Archimedes said, “give me a
place to stand and I will move the
Earth,” meaning that if he had a
lever long enough he could lift the
Earth by his own effort.
 In other words. . .
We can think of leaving the masses in place and moving the fulcrum.

It would have to be a pretty long

see-saw in order to balance the
school bus and the race car,
though!
 In other words. . .
M1
M2

d1 d2

(We still) need:

M1 d1 = M2 d2
What happens if there are many things
trying to balance on the see-saw?

Where do we place the fulcrum?

Mathematical Setting
First we fix an origin and a coordinate system. . .

-2 -1 0 1 2
 Mathematical Setting
And place the objects in the coordinate system. . .

M4
M1
M2 M3

d1 d2 0 d3 d4

Except that now d1, d2, d3, d4, . . . denote the placement of the objects in
the coordinate system, rather than relative to the fulcrum.

(Because we don’t, as yet, know where the fulcrum will be!)

 Mathematical Setting
And place the objects in the coordinate system. . .

M4
M1
M2 M3

d1 d2 x 0 d3 d4

Place the fulcrum at some coordinate x .

x is called the center of mass of the system.
 Mathematical Setting
And place the objects in the coordinate system. . .

M4
M1
M2 M3

d1 d2 x 0 d3 d4

In order to balance 2 objects, we needed:

M1 d1 = M2 d2 OR M1 d1 - M2 d2 =0

For a system with n objects we need:

M1 (d1  x )  M 2 (d2  x )  M 3 (d3  x )   M n (d n  x )  0

 Finding the Center of Mass of the System
Now we solve for x .

M1 (d1  x )  M 2 (d 2  x )  M 3 (d3  x )   M n (d n  x )  0
leads to the following set of calculations

M1d1  M1 x  M 2 d2  M 2 x  M 3d3  M 3 x   M ndn  M n x  0

M1d1  M 2 d2  M 3d3   M n d n  M1 x  M 2 x  M 3 x   Mnx

M1d1  M 2d2  M 3d3   M n d n   M1  M 2  M 3   Mn  x

And finally . . .
M d  M 2 d 2  M 3d3   M n d n
x 1 1
M1  M 2  M 3   M n
 The Center of Mass of the System
In the expression

The numerator is called the

first moment of the system

M 1d1  M 2 d 2  M 3d3   M n d n
x
M1  M 2  M 3   M n

The denominator is the

total mass of the system
 The Center of Mass of a Solid of
Revolution.
Some preliminary remarks:
– I will ask you to believe the following (I think)
plausible fact:
Due to the circular symmetry of a solid of revolution,
the center of mass will have to lie on the central
axis.
– In order to approximate the location of this
center of mass, we “slice” the solid into thin
slices, just as we did in approximating
volume.
The Center of Mass of a Solid of
Revolution

We can treat this

as a discrete, one-
dimensional center
of mass problem!
Approximating the Center of Mass
of a Solid of Revolution

M 1d1  M 2 d 2  M 3d3   M n d n
x
M1  M 2  M 3   M n

What is the mass of each “bead”?

•Assume that the solid is made of a single material so
its density is a uniform  throughout.
•Then the mass of a bead will simply be  times its
volume.
Approximating the Center of Mass
of a Solid of Revolution
Approximating the Center of Mass
of a Solid of Revolution
R

d volume   R 2 h
d mass   d volume    R 2 h
 xi1, f  xi1  f

xi 1 xi So . . .
d volumei    f ( xi 1 )  xi
2

d massi   d volume     f ( xi 1 )  xi

2

xi
Approximating the Center of Mass
of a Solid of Revolution
Summarizing:
d massi   d volume     f ( xi 1 )  xi .
2
The mass of the ith bead is
The position of the ith bead is di  xi 1.

M 1d1  M 2 d 2  M 3d3   M n d n
x 
M1  M 2  M 3   M n
  f ( x0 )  x0    f ( x1 )  x1    f ( x2 )  x2     f ( xn 1 )  xn 1
2 2 2 2


  f ( x0 )     f ( x1 )     f ( x2 )      f ( xn 1 ) 
2 2 2 2

  xi 1  f ( xi 1 ) 
2

 i 1
n

   f ( xi 1 ) 
2

i 1
 The Center of Mass of a Solid of
Revolution
M 1d1  M 2 d 2  M 3d3   M n d n
x 
M1  M 2  M 3   M n
  f ( x0 )  x0    f ( x1 )  x1    f ( x2 )  x2     f ( xn 1 )  xn 1
2 2 2 2


  f ( x0 )     f ( x1 )     f ( x2 )      f ( xn 1 ) 
2 2 2 2

  xi1  f ( xi1 ) 
2

 i 1
n

   f ( xi1 ) 
2

i 1
Both the numerator and
denominator are
Riemann sums. As we . . . And the fraction
subdivide the solid more approaches the center of
and more finely, they mass of the solid!
approach integrals.
The Center of Mass of a Solid of
Revolution
In the limit as the number of “slices” goes to infinity, we get the
coordinate of the center of mass of the solid . .

 x  f ( x)  dx
b

2

x a

   f ( x) 
b 2
dx
a

where a and b are the endpoints of the region over which the solid is
“sliced.”
 If the cross sections are
“washers”. . .
The derivation is more or less the same, except that when we compute
the area of the little cylinder, we get

d volumei    f (xi1)   g(xi1)

2 2
 x
i

as we did when we computed the volume of a solid of revolution.

So the coordinate of the center of mass will be:

 x   f ( x)    g ( x)   dx
b

2 2

x a

    f ( x)    g ( x)   dx
b 2 2
a

where a and b are the endpoints of the region over which the solid is
“sliced.”