COURSE:

CE 201 (STATICS)

LECTURE NO.:

41

FACULTY:

DR. SHAMSHAD AHMAD

DEPARTMENT:

CIVIL ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITY:

KING FAHD UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM

& MINERALS, DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA

TEXT BOOK:

ENGINEERING MECHANICS-STATICS
by R.C. HIBBELER, PRENTICE HALL

LECTURE NO. 41

CENTER OF GRAVITY AND CENTROID

Objectives:

To discuss the concept of center of gravity, center

of mass, and the centroid

To show how to determine the location of the

center of gravity and centroid for a system of
discrete particles and a body of arbitrary shape

DEFINITIONS
Center of Gravity
The center of gravity (G) is a point, which
locates the resultant weight of a system of
particles or a body.
The center of gravity is dependent of gravity.
Center of Mass
The center of mass is same as the center of
gravity provided that the acceleration due to
gravity, g, is constant.
It means the center of mass is independent of
gravity.
Centroid
The centroid (C) is a point which defines the
geometric center of an object.

CENTER OF GRAVITY AND CENTER OF MASS

FOR A SYSTEM OF PARTICLES
Center of Gravity of a system of The coordinates of the center of
gravity, G, of the system of particles
Particles:
Considering the n number of ( x, y, z ) can be determined using the
particles having weights as W1, W2, - following generalized formulas:
--------Wn in a three-dimensional



xW
yW
zW
x=
y=
z=
system, as shown in figure below:
W
W
W

where:
x , y, z represent the coordinates of

each particle in the system

W is the resultant sum of the

weights of all the particles in the
system

CENTER OF GRAVITY AND CENTER OF MASS

FOR A SYSTEM OF PARTICLES
Center of Mass of a system of Particles:

Substituting W = mg, where m is the mass of a particle,

in the expressions for the coordinates of the center of
gravity, G, we can obtain the coordinates of the center
of mass as:


xm
x=
m


ym
y=
m


zm
z=
m

CENTER OF GRAVITY AND CENTER OF MASS

FOR A BODY
Center of Gravity (G)
The formulas for the coordinates of center of gravity of a system of
particles may be modified for determining the coordinates of center of
gravity, G, of a rigid body, shown in figure below:
x dV

x=
dV
V

y dV

y=
dV
V

z dV

z=
dV
V

where:
= specific weight of the body

Center of Mass
The coordinates of the center of mass of a body may be obtained by
substituting = g (where is the density or mass per unit volume of
the body) in the above equations for the coordinates of the center of
gravity.

CENTROID FOR A BODY

Volume Centroid
Expressions for determining the coordinates of the centroid, C, of the
volume of a body (as shown in the following figure) are as follows:

V x dV
x=
V dV

V y dV
y=
V dV

V z dV
z=
V dV

Area Centroid
Expressions for determining the coordinates of the centroid, C, of the
area of a body (as shown in the following figure) are as follows:

A x dA
x=
A dA

A y dA
y=
A dA

A z dA
z=
A dA

CENTROID FOR A BODY

Line Centroid
Expressions for determining the coordinates of the
centroid, C, of a line (as shown in the following
figure) are as follows:

L x dL
x=
L dL

L y dL
y=
L dL

L z dL
z=
L dL

SYMMETRY
Symmetry about y-axis
Symmetry about x, y and z axes
x=0

Symmetry about x and y axes

x = 0 and y = 0
x = 0, y = 0, and z = 0

Multiple Choice Problems

1. Centroid is
(a) a point which locates the resultant weight of a
system of particles or a body
(b) a point which locates the resultant mass of a system
of particles or a body
(c) a geometric center of an object
(d) None of these
Ans: (c)
Feedback:
The centroid is a point which defines the geometric
center of an object.