Center of Mass

How To Walk
• Write Step-by-step (no pun intended)
instructions for someone to follow so that
they may walk.
 Activities
• Find your Center of Mass?
• Get Out Of Chair?
• Pick Up Chair?
• Leg Lift?
• Free Money?
• Post It Flip?
 Definition
• “The center of mass (or mass center) is
the mean location of all the mass in a
system”
• Marked with:
 Examples
• The center of mass of a two-particle
system lies on the line connecting the
particles (or, more precisely, their
individual centers of mass). The center of
mass is closer to the more massive object
• The center of mass of a ring is at the
center of the ring (in the air).
 More Examples
• The center of mass of a solid triangle lies
on all three medians and therefore at the
centroid, which is also the average of the
three vertices.
 Applications
• Objects rotate around their center of mass
• In a uniform gravitational field, the center of
mass and center of gravity are the same.
• A projectile’s center of mass will follow a
parabolic path.
• If an object’s center of mass is outside it’s base
of support, it will topple.
• An applied force that is not through an object’s
center of mass will cause rotation.