CHAPTER 8:

CENTER OF GRAVITY, CENTROID, AND

MOMENT OF INERTIA
Learning Objectives
At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

Explain the Centre of Gravity, Centre of Mass, Composite

Body, and Section Centroid.

Calculate the Section Centroid and Moment of Inertia.

CENTRE OF GRAVITY

CENTRE OF MASS (CM)

The CENTRE OF MASS (CM) is basically a coordinate
which represents the average position of mass.
The centre of mass of a body is the point at which the
weight acts.
This point can be located for one, two and three
dimensional objects and composite bodies.
Sometimes the centre of mass of a uniform body can be
found by symmetry.

CENTRE OF MASS (CM)

Example:
Three masses of m1 kg, m2 kg and m3 kg are attached to a
light rod AB at distances of x1 m, x2 m and x3 m from A.
Find the centre of mass of this system of particles.
Assume that the centre of mass is x m from A and that the
rod is in equilibrium when balanced at this point.

CENTRE OF MASS (CM)

Solution:
The forces can be resolved vertically:
Resultant Force, R = m1g + m2g + m3g
Taking moments about A:
m1gx1 + m2gx2 + m3gx3 = R

m1gx1 + m2gx2 + m3gx3 = (m1g + m2g + m3g)

Therefore,

In Formula,

m1 x1 m2 x2 m3 x3
x
m1 m2 m3
mi xi
x
mi

So, the center of mass is C,

measured x from A.

CENTROID

The centroid, C is a point defining the geometric center

of an object.
The centroid coincides with the center of mass or the
center of gravity only if the material of the body is
homogenous (density or specific weight is constant
throughout the body).
If an object has an axis of symmetry, then the centroid
of object lies on that axis.
In some cases, the centroid may not be located on the
object.

COMPOSITE BODIES

A composite body consists of a series of connected

simpler shaped bodies, which may be rectangular,
triangular, semicircular, etc.
The T-beam or I-beam shown are commonly used in
building various types of structures.
When doing a stress or deflection analysis for a beam,
the location of its centroid is very important.

Concept of a Composite Body

Many objects can be

considered as composite
bodies, made up of a series of
connected simple shaped
parts or holes, like a rectangle,
triangle, and semicircle.
Knowing the location of the
centroid, C, or centre of gravity,
CG, of the simple shaped
parts, we can easily determine
the location of the C or CG for
the more complex composite
body.

This can be done by

considering each part as a
particle.
This is a simple, effective, and
practical method of
determining the location of the
centroid or centre of gravity of
a complex part, structure or
machine.

Section centroid ()
How to find the location of the section centroid ( )

b
h

Section 1
Section 2

Section 2

Section Area (m 2 )

y (m)

Ay ( m 3 )

bh

bxh 1

2[r s ]

2 r s 2

Ay

Section centroid () = A / A

Example: Calculate the location of the section centroid ( )

b = 0.08 m
h = 0.01 m

Section 2

Section 2

Section 1

0.01 m

0.01 m

r = 0.04 m

The section centroid ():

Section

Area, A (m2)
0.08 x 0.01
= 8x10-4
2[0.04 x 0.01]
= 8x10-4

A = 1.6x10-3

(m)

1= 0.01/ 2
= 0.005

Measured from top to

center of the section

A x (m3)

8x10-4 x 0.005
= 4x10-6

2 = 0.01 + (0.04/2) 8x10-4 x 0.03

= 2.4x10-5
= 0.03

A = 2.8x10-5

Section centroid () = A / A = 2.8x10-5 m3/ 1.6x10-3 m2 = 0.0175 m

(measured from the top of section)

EXAMPLE

Determine the section centroid (y-bar).

SOLUTION

Section

Area, A (m2)
0.25 x 0.02
= 5x10-3

2[0.2 x 0.015]
= 6x10-3

A = 0.011

(m)

A x (m3)

0.02/ 2
= 0.01

5x10-3 x 0.01
= 5x10-5

0.2/ 2
= 0.1

6x10-3 x 0.1
= 6x10-4

A = 6.5x10-4

Section centroid () = A / A = 6.5x10-4 m3/ 0.011 m2 = 0.05909 m

Example
Locate the centroid of the plate shown.

Solution:

17

MOMENT OF INERTIA (I)

Definition of Moments of Inertia for Areas

Centroid for an area is determined by the first
moment of an area about an axis.
Second moment of an area is referred as
moment of inertia.

MOMENT OF INERTIA (I)

Consider area A lying in the x-y plane.

Moment of inertia of the differential
plane area dA about x and y axes:
dI x y 2 dA;

dI y x 2 dA

For entire area, moment of

inertia are given by:
I x y 2 dA;
A

I y x 2 dA
A

Parallel Axis Theorem for an Area

Consider moment of inertia of the shaded
area.
A differential element dA is
located at an arbitrary distance y
from the centroidal x axis

Parallel Axis Theorem for an Area

The fixed distance between the parallel x and x axes
is defined as dy
For moment of inertia of dA about x axis:

y'd y dA
dI x area:
For entire
2

I x y ' d y dA
2

y '2 dA 2d y y ' dA d y2 dA
A

First integral represent the moment of inertia of the

area about the centroidal axis.

Parallel Axis Theorem for an Area

Second integral = 0 since x passes through
the areas centroid C:
y' dA y dA 0;

y0

Third integral represents the total area A:

I x I x Ad y2

Similarly:

I y I y Ad x2

MOMENT OF INERTIA (I)

For rectangular:

x = (1/12) b(h3)

y = (1/12) h(b3)

= m4 or mm4

= m4 or mm4

c
N

b
Neutral Axis (N-A) = c = = h/2
1)The natural axis (N-A),
2) Perpendicular distance (c),
3) section centroid () and
4) moment of inertia (I) for rectangular cross section:

Calculate the Moment of Inertia refer additional note

b = 0.08 m
h = 0.01 m

Section 1

A
Section 2

= 0.0325
m

Section 2

0.01 m

0.01 m

r = 0.04 m

Calculate the Moment of Inertia refer additional note

b1 = 96 mm
h1 = 12 mm

Section 1

= 44 mm

A
Section 2

b2

12 mm

h2 = 48 mm

Calculate the Moment of Inertia Do It Yourself

b = 0.25 m

Section 2

Section 2

h = 0.02 m

Section 1

= 0.05909 m

0.015 m

0.015 m

r = 0.2 m