Contents

 Center of Gravity and Centroid

Applications of COG
Center of Gravity of a 2D Body
Centroids and First Moments of Areas
Centroids of Common Shapes of Areas
Composite Plates and Areas
Problems
 Center of Gravity and Centroid
• The point through which the whole mass of the body acts,
irrespective of the position of the body is known as center of
gravity.
• The earth exerts a gravitational force on each of the particles forming
a body.
• These forces can be replaced by a single equivalent force equal to
the weight of the body
• It is applied at the center of gravity for the body.
• Centroid is the geometrical Center of any body.
• The concept of the first moment of an area is used to locate the
centroid.
 Applications
The position of the centre of gravity of an object affects its stability. The lower the
centre of gravity (G) is, the more stable the object. The higher it is the more likely
the object is to topple over if it is pushed. Racing cars have really low centers of
gravity so that they can corner rapidly without turning over.
Applications for COG can be found in: Gymnastics and other sports, Aeronautics,
Astronomy etc.
 Center of Gravity of a 2D Body
• Center of gravity of a plate

M y x W   x W
  x dW

M x yW   y W
  y dW
Centroids and First Moments of Areas
• Centroid of an area

x A   x dA  Q y (first moment wit h respect to y )

yA   y dA  Qx (first moment wit h respect to x)
 Centroids of Common Shapes of Areas
• The centre of gravity of a rectangle or square lies at a
point where its diagonals intersect.

• The centre of gravity of a triangle lies at a point where three

medians of the triangle Intersect.

• A median is line joining the vertex and the middle point

of the opposite side.

• The centre of gravity of a circle lies at it centre.

Composite Plates and Areas
• Composite plates

X W   x W
Y W   y W

• Composite area

XAxA
Y  A  yA

X
 xA
Y 
 yA
A A
Sample Problem SOLUTION:
• Divide the area into a triangle, rectangle,
and semicircle with a circular cutout.

• Calculate the first moments of each area

with respect to the axes.

• Find the total area and first moments of the

triangle, rectangle, and semicircle.
Subtract the area and first moment of the
circular cutout.

• Compute the coordinates of the area

For the plane area shown, determine
centroid by dividing the first moments by
the first moments with respect to the x
the total area.
and y axes and the location of the
centroid.
Sample Problem 5.1

• Find the total area and first moments of the Q x  506.2  103 mm3
triangle, rectangle, and semicircle. Subtract the
area and first moment of the circular cutout. Q y  757.7  103 mm3
• Compute the coordinates of the area centroid by dividing the first
moments by the total area.

 x A  757.7  103 mm3

X  
 A 13.828 103 mm 2
X  54.8 mm

 y A  506.2  103 mm3

Y  
 A 13.828103 mm 2

Y  36.6 mm
Problem 5.3 Problem 5.8

ASSIGNMENT # 01