Centroids & Moment of

Inertia
MMT -I
 Centroid or Center of Area
Centroid: A point at which whole area of body or a plane figure is acting is called centroid.
Also known as geometric center

• It is only applicable to plane figures having certain area but no volume, for example;
rectangle, square, circle, semi-circle, triangle, etc.
Composite Figure made up of two or more plane figure such as triangles, rectangles, circles,
semi-circles, etc

Center of Gravity (COG) point at which the whole mass of body is concentrated.
COG and centroid are different quantities but both become similar when bodies have only area
but not weight.
Plane Figures vs Composite Figures
 Centroid vs Center of Gravity (COG)
Whole weight is acting
at this point
Other Examples = Book or pen balanced on finger
 Suspend the plane fig from corners
 From suspension point, draw a vertical line that will be
directed towards the earth
 Repeat the step at other corners also.
 Intersection point of lines will be the centroid of fig
Centroid vs Center of Gravity (COG)
Entire area of plane figure is
concentrated

COG

Centroid Centroid

COG

Entire weight is assumed to be

Steel Plate concentrated
Steel +Aluminum
Plate
Centroid Location of a composite figure
• Place x axis at lowest point and y axis at the left edge of
figure (first quadrant, where X & Y will be +ive).
• Split the composite figure into plane figure
• Now following formulas can be used to find the X and Y
coordinates of centroid.
• ,
•
• x & y in above formula mean the dimensions along x &
y axis respectively.
• Numerator term involves the moment of each area about
certain axis
Figure having one axis of symmetry:
• Centroid of figure symmetric about certain axis lies on
that axis because first moment about axis of symmetry
equal to zero.
• Centroid of figure will lie on x-axis because it is
symmetric about x axis. Therefore only one coordinate
must be calculated to locate the centroid.

Figure having two axis of symmetry:

If any figure has two axis of symmetry, then centroid
will lie at the intersection of axis of symmetry.
 Figure having no axis of symmetry:
• A figure which has no axis of symmetry, but it is
symmetric about a point, (called the center of
symmetry) such that every line drawn through
that point contacts the area in a symmetrical
manner.

• Centroid of such figure can be located by

inspection.
Q. Determine the centroid of C section beam.

X3

X2 y3

y2

X1
y1
Q. Determine the centroid of I section beam.
y

I section is symmetric about y axis, so centroid will

lie along y axis.
Q. Determine the centroid of Z section
beam.
Moment of force or 1st Moment of force: Moment of force about any point = product of force and perpendicular
distance between the point and line of action of force.

2nd Moment of force: 1st moment of force again multiplied by perpendicular distance gives quantity called 2 nd moment
of force. It can never be zero due to perpendicular distance between two axis.

1st Moment of area or 1st MOI: Area of figure multiplied by perpendicular distance from reference axis is called 1st
moment of area. It is the measure of area distribution of a shape in relation to an axis.

Mathematically,
Units = (length)3

2nd Moment of area/mass or MOI: Area of figure or mass of body multiplied by square of perpendicular distance
from reference axis is called 2nd moment of area/mass.

Moment of Inertia (MOI): 2nd moment of area/mass is broadly termed as MOI.

Moment of Inertia (MOI): MOI is always a +ive quantity. It is denoted by I
Units = m4 or mm4 or (length)4

Mass moment of inertia: When mass MOI is used in combination with rotation of rigid
bodies, it can considered as “Measure of Body’s Resistance To Rotation”.
Area moment of inertia: When area MOI is used in combination with deflection or
deformation of members in bending, it can considered as “Measure of Body’s Resistance
To Bending”.
Polar moment of inertia: When polar MOI is used in combination with member
subjected to torsional loadings, it can considered as “Measure of Body's Resistance To
Torsion”.
MOI form the basis of dynamics of rigid bodies and strength of materials.
 y
MOI of rectangle about centroidal X-axis:

MOI of rectangle about centroidal Y-axis: d C

x x

b
y
MOI changes when axis is changed.
In above formula,
dimension parallel to centroidal axis will be taken as b (width of beam) and
dimensions perpendicular to centroidal axis will be taken as d (depth of beam).
Once b & d are fixed then never change it, during finding MOI about another
vertical axis
MOI of Hollow Rectangular section:
MOI of outer rectangle =
MOI of inner rectangle =
d d1

Similarly,

When centroid or center of gravity of

both rectangles concide each other
 y
MOI of circular section:
Now MOI about centroidal axis which is
x C x
perpendicular to circular cross section r
=
y
MOI of hollow circular cross section: y

x C x

y
MOI of Composite Figure
Moment of inertia of composite section is find out by following steps
1. First of all, split the given section into plane areas (rectangular,
circular, triangular).
2. Find the X & Y coordinates of centroid of each plane figure
3. Find the X & Y coordinates of centroid of whole section
4. Now use Parallel axis theorem to find MOI about the required axis
(or centroidal axis).
Parallel Axis Theorem
MOI of area with respect to any axis in its plane = MOI of area w.r.t
parallel centroidal axis (of small plane figure) plus the product of area
and square of distances between these two axis.
Mathematically,
MOI w.r.t to X-axis;

MOI w.r.t Y-axis

If MOI about centroidal axis (of small plane figure) is known, we can find the
moment of inertia about any required axis (or about the centroid of composite
figure) by using Parallel Axis Theorem.

• From Parallel Axis Theorem, it is clear that MOI increases as reference axis
is moved parallel and farther away from centroid.
• MOI about centroidal axis is least moment of inertia.
• When using Parallel axis theorem, always remember that one of two parallel
axis must be centroidal axis.
 y D
MOI of rectangle about centroidal X-axis: 𝒙

MOI of rectangle about centroidal Y-axis:

d C
x x

 Icx & Icy centroidal MOI or MOI of small b

figure about its own centroidal axis C
𝒚 y
 & = distance between two parallel axis.
MOI w.r.t to X-axis; A B

MOI w.r.t Y-axis

Q. Determine the MOI of C section beam
w.r.t its centroidal axis.

X3

X2 y3

y2

X1
y1
 𝑰 𝒙𝒙 𝟐=𝑰 𝒄𝒙 + 𝑨𝟐 (𝒚 )𝟐
𝟐

𝑰 𝒙𝒙 𝟏=𝑰 𝒄𝒙 + 𝑨𝟏 (𝒚 )𝟐
𝟏

𝑰 𝒙𝒙 𝟑=𝑰 𝒄𝒙 + 𝑨𝟑 ( 𝒚 )𝟐
𝟑

b
d

𝑰 𝒄𝒙 𝑰𝒄 𝒚
 𝑰 𝒚𝒚 𝟐= 𝑰 𝒄𝒚 + 𝑨 𝟐( 𝒙 )𝟐
𝟐

𝑰 𝒚𝒚 𝟏= 𝑰 𝒄𝒚 + 𝑨 𝟏(𝒙 )𝟐
𝟏

𝑰 𝒚𝒚 𝟑= 𝑰 𝒄𝒚 + 𝑨 𝟑( 𝒙 )𝟐
𝟑

b
d

𝑰 𝒄𝒙 𝑰𝒄 𝒚
Q. Determine the centroid of I section beam about its centroidal axis.
y

I section is symmetric about y axis, so centroid will

lie along y axis.
Find MOI about centroidal XX and YY axis.
 𝟐
𝑰 𝒙𝒙 𝟏=𝑰 𝒄𝒙 + 𝑨𝟏 (𝒚 ) 𝑰 𝒙𝒙 𝟑=𝑰 𝒄𝒙 + 𝑨𝟑 (𝒚 )𝟐
𝟑
𝟏

𝑰 𝒙𝒙 𝟐=𝑰 𝒄𝒙 + 𝑨𝟐 (𝒚 )𝟐
𝟐

b
d

𝑰 𝒄𝒙 𝑰𝒄 𝒚
 𝑰 𝒚𝒚 𝟏= 𝑰 𝒄𝒚 + 𝑨 𝟏( 𝒙 )𝟐
𝟏

𝑰 𝒚𝒚 𝟐= 𝑰 𝒄𝒚 + 𝑨 𝟐( 𝒙 )𝟐
𝟐

b
d 𝑰 𝒚𝒚 𝟑= 𝑰 𝒄𝒚 + 𝑨 𝟑( 𝒙 )𝟐
𝟑

𝑰 𝒄𝒙 𝑰𝒄 𝒚
Q. Determine the MOI of Z section beam
about its centroidal axis.
 𝑰 𝒙𝒙 𝟏=𝑰 𝒄𝒙 + 𝑨𝟏 (𝒚 )𝟐
𝟏

𝑰 𝒙𝒙 𝟐=𝑰 𝒄𝒙 + 𝑨𝟐 ( 𝒚 )𝟐
𝟐

b
d 𝑰 𝒙𝒙 𝟑= 𝑰 𝒄𝒙 + 𝑨𝟑 ( 𝒚 )𝟐
𝟑

𝑰 𝒄𝒙 𝑰𝒄 𝒚
 𝑰 𝒚𝒚 𝟏= 𝑰 𝒄𝒚 + 𝑨 𝟏(𝒙 )𝟐
𝟏

𝑰 𝒚𝒚 𝟐= 𝑰 𝒄𝒚 + 𝑨 𝟐( 𝒙 )𝟐
𝟐

b
d
𝑰 𝒚𝒚 𝟑= 𝑰 𝒄𝒚 + 𝑨 𝟑(𝒙 )𝟐
𝟑

𝑰 𝒄𝒙 𝑰𝒄 𝒚
Determine the MOI of beam about its centroidal X’ axis.
(Hibler page # 789)
Eg. A-3, Determine the MOI of beam about its centroidal X &
Y axis. (Hibler page # 790)