Engineering Mechanics I: Statics (MEng 2201)

Chapter 5: Force Distribution –

Center of Gravity and Centroids
Contents
• Introduction (Lecture 10)
• Center of Gravity (Lecture 10)
• Centroids of Lines, Areas and Volumes (Lecture 11)
• Centroids of Composite Bodies (Lecture 12)

1
 Introduction (Lecture 10)
• Until now we treated all forces as concentrated along
their lines of action and at their points of application.
• Actually, “concentrated” forces do not exist in the exact
sense, since every external force applied mechanically
to a body is distributed over a finite contact area,
however small.
• The force of contact b/n a
hardened steel ball and its
race in a loaded ball
bearing, Fig. b, is applied
over a finite though
extremely small contact area. 2
 Introduction
• The forces applied to a two-force member of a truss,
Fig. c, are applied over an actual area of contact of the
pin against the hole and internally across the cut
section as shown.

3
 Introduction
• When forces are applied over a region whose
dimensions are not negligible compared with other
pertinent dimensions, then we must account for the
actual manner in which the force is distributed.
• We do this by summing the effects of the distributed
force over the entire region using mathematical
integration.
• This requires that we know the intensity of the force at
any location.
• There are three categories of such problems:
– Line Distribution
– Area Distribution
– Volume Distribution 4
 Introduction
• (1) Line Distribution: When a force is distributed along
a line, as in the continuous vertical load supported by a
suspended cable, Fig. a, the intensity w of the loading is
expressed as force per unit length of line, Newtons per
meter (N/m) or pounds per foot (lb/ft).

5
 Introduction
• (2) Area Distribution: When a force is distributed over an area,
(hydraulic pressure of water against the inner face of a section of
dam), Fig. b, the intensity is expressed as force per unit area.
• This intensity is called pressure for the action of fluid forces and
stress for the internal distribution of forces in solids.
• The basic unit for pressure or stress in SI is the Newton per
square meter (N/m2), which is also called the Pascal (Pa).

6
 Introduction
• (3) Volume Distribution: A force which is distributed over the
volume of a body is called a body force.
• The most common body force is the force of gravitational
attraction, which acts on all elements of mass in a body.
• The determination of the forces on the supports of the heavy
cantilevered structure in Fig. c, for example, would require
accounting for the distribution of gravitational force throughout
the structure.
• The intensity of gravitational force is the specific weight  g,
where  is the density (mass per unit volume) and g is the
acceleration due to gravity.

7
 Center of Gravity (Lecture 10)
• Consider a 3D body of any size and shape, having a mass m.
• If we suspend the body, as shown in Fig. (a), from any point such
as A, the body will be in equilibrium under the action of the
tension in the cord and the resultant W of the gravitational forces
acting on all particles of the body.
• This resultant is clearly collinear with the cord.

8
 Center of Gravity
• Assume that we mark its position by drilling a
hypothetical hole of negligible size along its line of
action.
• We repeat the experiment by suspending the body from
other points such as B and C, and in each instance we
mark the line of action of the resultant force.
• For all practical purposes these lines of action will be
concurrent at a single point G, called the center of
gravity of the body.

9
 Center of Gravity
• To determine mathematically the location of the center
of gravity of any body, Fig. a, we apply the principle of
moments to the parallel system of gravitational forces.

10
 Center of Gravity
• The moment of the resultant gravitational force W about
any axis equals the sum of the moments about the same
axis of the gravitational forces dW acting on all
particles treated as infinitesimal elements of the body.
• The resultant of the gravitational forces acting on all
elements is the weight of the body and is given by the
sum W =  dW.
• If we apply the moment principle about the y-axis, for
example, the moment about this axis of the elemental
weight is x dW, and the sum of these moments for all
elements of the body is  x dW.
• This sum of moments must equal W , the moment of
the sum; thus W =  x dW. 11
 Center of Gravity
• With similar expressions for the other two components,
we may express the coordinates of the center of gravity
G as:

• It is essential to recognize that the numerator of each of

these expressions represents the sum of the moments,
whereas the product of W and the corresponding
coordinate of G represents the moment of the sum.
• With the substitution of W = mg and dW = g dm, the
expressions for the coordinates of the center of gravity
become

12
 Center of Gravity
• The above eqn. may be expressed in vector form with
the aid of Fig. b, in which the elemental mass and the
mass center G are located by their respective position
vectors r = xi + yj + zk and
• Thus, the above Eqs. are the components of the single
vector equation

• The density  of a body is its mass per unit volume.

• Thus, the mass of a differential element of volume dV
becomes dm =  dV. If  is not constant throughout the
body but can be expressed as a function of the
coordinates of the body, we must account for this
variation when calculating above. 13
 Center of Gravity
• We may then write these expressions as:

• Whenever there exists a line or plane of symmetry in a

homogeneous body, a coordinate axis or plane should
be chosen to coincide with this line or plane.
• When the density  of a body is uniform throughout, it
will be a constant factor in both the numerators and
denominators of Eqs. and will therefore cancel.
• The remaining expressions define a purely geometrical
property of the body, since any reference to its mass
14
properties has disappeared.
 Centroids (Lecture 11)
• The term centroid is used when the calculation concerns
a geometrical shape only.
• When speaking of an actual physical body, we use the
term center of mass.
• If the density is uniform throughout the body, the
positions of the centroid and center of mass are
identical, whereas if the density varies, these two points
will, in general, not coincide.
• The calculation of centroids falls within three distinct
categories, depending on whether we can model the
shape of the body involved as a line, an area, or a
volume.
15
 Centroids of Lines
• (1) Lines: For a slender rod or wire of length L, cross-
sectional area A, and density , the body approximates a
line segment and dm = A dL.
• If  and A are constant over the length of the rod, the
coordinates of the center of mass also become the
coordinates of the centroid C of the line segment, which
may be written

• Note that, in general, the centroid C

will not lie on the line.
• If the rod lies on a single plane, only
two coordinates need to be calculated. 16
 Centroids of Areas
• (2) Areas: When a body of density has a small but
constant thickness t, we can model it as a surface area A.
• The mass of an element becomes dm =  t dA.
• Again, if  and t are constant over the entire area, the
coordinates of the center of mass of the body also
become the coordinates of the centroid C of the surface
area, and the coordinates may
be written as:

• The numerators are called the

first moments of area. 17
 Centroids Areas
• If the surface is curved, all three coordinates will be
involved.
• The centroid C for the curved surface will in general not
lie on the surface.
• If the area is a flat surface in, say, the x-y plane, only the
coordinates of C in that plane need to be calculated.

18
 Centroids of Volumes
• (3) Volumes: For a general body of volume V and
density , the element has a mass dm =  dV.
• The density  cancels if it is constant over the entire
volume, and the coordinates of the center of mass also
become the coordinates of the centroid C of the body
and are given by:

19
 Key Concepts
• With mass centers and centroids difficult steps are the
choice of the differential element and setting up the
integrals. The following five guidelines will be useful.
• (1) Order of Element: Whenever possible, a 1st-order
differential element should be selected in preference to a
higher-order element so that only one integration will be
required to cover the entire figure.

20
 Key Concepts
• (2) Continuity: Whenever possible, we choose an
element which can be integrated in one continuous
operation to cover the figure. Thus, the horizontal strip
in Fig. a would be preferable to the vertical strip in Fig.
b, which, if used, would require two separate integrals
because of the discontinuity in the expression for the
height of the strip at x = x1.

21
 Key Concepts
• (3) Discarding Higher-Order Terms: Higher-order
terms may always be dropped compared with lower-
order terms.
• Thus, the vertical strip of area under the curve in the
Fig. is given by the 1st-order term dA = y dx, and the 2nd
-order triangular area is discarded.

22
 Key Concepts
• (4) Choice of Coordinates: As a general rule, we choose
the coordinate system which best matches the
boundaries of the figure.
• Thus, the boundaries of the area in Fig. a are most easily
described in rectangular coordinates, whereas the
boundaries of the circular sector of Fig. b are best suited
to polar coordinates.

23
 Key Concepts
• (5) Centroidal Coordinate of Element: When a first-
order differential element is chosen, it is essential to use
the coordinate of the centroid of the element for the
moment arm in expressing the moment of the
differential element.
• Thus, for the horizontal strip of area as in Fig. a, the
moment of dA about the y-axis is xc dA, where xc is the
x-coordinate of the centroid C of the element.

24
 Key Concepts
• Note that xc is not the x which describes either boundary
of the area.
• In the y-direction for this element the moment arm yc of
the centroid of the element is the same, in the limit, as
the y-coordinates of the two boundaries.
• The equations for the centroidal coordinates are,

• It is essential to recognize that the subscript c serves as a

reminder that the moment arms appearing in the
numerators of the integral expressions for moments are
always the coordinates of the centroids of the particular
25
elements chosen.
 Example 1 Solution
• Centroid of a triangular area: Determine the distance
from the base of a triangle of altitude h to the centroid of
its area.
• Solution. The x-axis is taken to coincide with the base.
A differential strip of area dA = x dy is chosen.
• Similar triangles: x/(h – y) = b/h.
• Applying,

• the distance of this point from

any side is one-third the altitude
of the triangle with that side considered the base. 26
 Example 2
• Locate the centroid of the area under the curve x = ky3
from x = 0 to x = a.

27
 Example 2: Solution I
• A vertical element of area dA = y dx is chosen as shown
in the figure.
• The x-coordinate of the centroid is found from,

• Substituting y = (x/k)1/3 and

k = a/b3 and integrating gives,

28
 Example 2: Solution I
• The coordinate to the centroid of the rectangular
element is yc = y/2 where y is the height of the strip
governed by the equation of the curve x = ky3.
• Thus, the moment principle becomes

• Substituting y = b(x/a)1/3 and integrating give

29
 Example 2: Solution II
• The horizontal element of area shown in the lower
figure may be employed in place of the vertical element.
• The x-coordinate to the centroid of the rectangular
element is seen to be xc = x + ½ (a + x)/2, which is
simply the average of the coordinates a and x of the ends
of the strip. Hence,

30
 Example 3
• Centroid of a circular arc: Locate the centroid of a
circular arc as shown in the figure.

31
 Example 3: Solution
• Solution. Choosing the axis of symmetry as the x-axis
makes = 0.
• A differential element of arc has the length expressed in
polar coordinates, and the x-coordinate of the element is
r cos  and L = 2r give

32
 Example 3: Solution
• For a semicircular arc 2 = , which gives = 2r/.
• By symmetry we see that this result also applies to the
quarter-circular arc when the measurement is made as
shown.

• It should be perfectly evident that polar coordinates are

preferable to rectangular coordinates to express the
length of a circular arc. 33
 Example 4
• Centroid of the area of a circular sector: Locate the
centroid of the area of a circular sector with respect to
its vertex.

34
 Example 4
• The area can be covered by swinging a triangle of
differential area about the vertex and through the total
angle of the sector. This triangle, shown in the figure,
has an area dA = (r/2)(r d).
• yc = 0 and xc = (2/3) r cos .

35
 Example 4
• For a semicircular area 2 = , which gives = 4r/3.
• By symmetry we see that this result also applies to the
quarter-circular area where the measurement is made as
shown.

36
 Composite Bodies (Lecture 12)
• When a body can be conveniently divided into several
parts whose mass centers are easily determined, we use
the principle of moments and treat each part as a finite
element of the whole.
• Such a body is illustrated schematically below.
• Its parts have masses m1, m2, m3 with the respective
mass-center coordinates in the x-direction.
• The moment principle gives

• Where is the x-coordinate of the center of mass of the

whole. Similar relations hold for the other two
coordinate directions.
37
 Composite Bodies
• We generalize, then, for a body of any number of parts
and express the sums in condensed form to obtain the
mass-center coordinates

• Analogous relations hold for composite lines, areas, and

volumes, where the m’s are replaced by L’s, A’s, and
V’s, respectively.
• Note that if a hole or cavity is considered one of the
component parts of a composite body, the corresponding
mass represented by the cavity or hole is treated as a
negative quantity.
38
 Composite Bodies
• As an example, consider the problem of locating the
centroid C of the irregular area shown in the Fig.
• The area is divided into strips of width x and variable
height h. The area A of each strip, such as the one shown
in red, is h x and is multiplied by the coordinates xc
and yc of its centroid to obtain the moments of the
element of area.

39
 Composite Bodies
• The sum of the moments for all strips divided by the
total area of the strips will give the corresponding
centroidal coordinate.
• A systematic tabulation of the results will permit an
orderly evaluation of the total area ΣA, the sums ΣAxc
and ΣAyc, and the centroidal coordinates

• We can increase the accuracy of the approximation by

decreasing the widths of the strips.
• In all cases the average height of the strip should be
estimated in approximating the areas.
40
 Example 5: Composite Area
• Locate the centroid of the shaded area

41
 Example 5: Solution
• The composite area is divided into the four elementary
shapes shown in the lower figure.
• Note that the areas of the “holes” (parts 3 and 4) are
taken as negative in the following table:

42
 Example 5: Solution
• Use the following table:

• The formulas are applied and yield

43