Centre of Mass of a Uniform Lamina

Prerequisites
A prerequisite of study of this chapter is that you should be familiar with the definition of a
moment of a force and with applications of this definition to problems set on the static
equilibrium of a rod subject to non-concurrent forces. As part of your study of such problems
you should also have met the concept of centre of mass and the related concept of centre of
gravity. Let us consolidate these ideas.

Example (1)
The diagram shows a uniform straight rod AB of length 2 m, resting horizontally in
equilibrium on two smooth supports at C and D with loads of 20 N and 25 N freely
suspended from points A and B respectively.

C D
A B

20 N 25 N

The weight of the rod is 30 N. AC  DB  0.6 m . Calculate the magnitudes of the

reactions at C and D.

Solution
F G

0.6 0.4 0.4 0.6

A B
C D

20 30 25

Let the magnitudes of the reactions at C and D be F and G respectively.

Taking moments at C.
Clockwise moments = Anticlockwise moments

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 0.4  30  1.4  25  0.6  20  0.8  G
0.8G  12  47
0.8G  35
G  43.75 N

Taking moments at D
0.8  F  0.6  25  1.4  20  0.4  30
0.8F  15  40
0.8F  25
F  31.25 N

Checking that the reactions = the loads

F  G  43.75  31.25  75
Loads  20  30  25  75  F  G  

Two body problems

Any two objects may be regarded as a system whether there is an actual connection between them
or not. Whilst each object has its own centre of mass, the two objects taken together will have a
common centre of mass. This centre of mass may or may not be located within the body of one of
the objects. If the two objects are spheres separated by some distance then their common centre
of mass will be located somewhere on a line joining the centres of mass of the individual objects.
In the following diagram two spheres A and B are connected by a light, inextensible rod.

A B

0 x x1

We have placed the centre of mass of A at the origin and the centre of mass of B to be x 1 metres

away from the origin. Letting the position of the common centre of mass of both particles to be
at x the problem we are considering is given the masses of A and B and the value of x 1 , how to

find x . The solution to this is found from the principle governing the equilibrium of non-
concurrent forces – that is the principle of moments. There can be no rotation or turning effect of
either object about their common centre of mass, so this means that the common centre of mass
is defined by the fact that about it
The sum of the clockwise moments = the sum of the anticlockwise moments.

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 Example (2)
Find the centre of mass of an object comprising of two particles of mass 2kg and 5kg
respectively, joined by a light inextensible rod of length 1m.

A B

2 kg 5 kg

The term light in this question means that the rod may be regarded as having no mass.
The term inextensible means that the rod cannot stretch or bend, which are effects that
would introduce complications into the process of finding the common centre of mass of
the two particles.

To solve the problem we begin by fixing an origin at, say, the 2 kg end and let x indicate
the distance from this origin of the centre of mass.

A B

0 1
x 1x
2g 5g

The weights are 2g and 5g respectively. About the centre of mass the sum of the
moments is zero.
Clockwise moment = Anticlockwise moment
F1d1  F2d2
5g 1  x   2gx
5  5x  2x
7x  5
x  5  0.71 m 2.s.f.
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That is, the centre of mass lies 0.71 m from the 2 kg mass.

Laminas
A uniform lamina is a shape cut out of a flat sheet of material. It is uniform because the density
of the material is regarded as being evenly distributed throughout. The term lamina indicates
that the thickness of the material can be ignored. Although a lamina is an object with mass of

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uniform density, which implies some kind of thickness, it is treated as if it had no thickness at all
and was a purely flat two dimensional object. This is one of those useful simplifying assumptions
that one frequently meets in applied mathematics.

So a lamina is a two dimensional object. We denote the centre of mass of a lamina by its
coordinates  x , y  . The principle that about the centre of mass the sum of the clockwise moments

must equal the sum of the anticlockwise moments leads to shortcut methods of finding centres of
mass for laminas that possess some kind of symmetry.

Rectangle
Consider a rectangular lamina of uniform density. Then clearly, for any line passing through the
centre of mass, the mass on one side of the line must equal the mass on the other.

Mass of left half = mass of right half

To prove this, if the masses did not balance, the moment produced by one half would be greater
than that produced by the other and the object would be rotating. So the centre of mass of a
uniform body must lie at the intersection of any two axes of symmetry.

By this principle of symmetry the centre of mass or a rectangle must lie at the intersection of the
diagonals. If the rectangle has length x and width y and we place one vertex at the origin, this
means that the centre of mass  x , y  is located at the mid-points of the rectangle; that is

 x , y   
x y
, .
2 2

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 y

x
0 x x

Example (3)
The diagram shows a rectangle of horizontal length 14 units and vertical height 9 units.
One corner is located at the origin.

x
0 14

What are the coordinates of this lamina’s centre of mass?

Solution

 x , y   
14 9 
,   7,4.5
 2 2

Disc
The centre of mass of a disc lies at the centre of the disc. Clearly any diagonal divides a disc into
two halves of equal mass.

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 Example (5)
The diagram shows the position of a disc. What are the coordinates of this disc’s centre
of mass?

yy

3
-3 2
-2 1
-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 x

1
-1

2

3

Solution
The centre of mass is where the centre o the circle is.

 x , y   
5 3
, 
 2 2

Triangles
For a triangle, a median is a line joining the mid-point of a side to the opposite vertex. For any
triangle (right-angled or not) the centre of mass lies at the intersection of the medians. To see
why, consider that if the triangle were divided into little strips then the mass on one side of the
median equals the mass on the other.

y
x y 1 Small strip
2

1 y = y3
2

1 2 0 x =x3 x
3 3

We can show by coordinate geometry that the point of intersection lies 1/3 along any given side of
the triangle in the sense given in the diagram. For a right-angled triangle this means that if the
right-angled corner of the triangle is placed at the origin, then the centre of mass lies at

 x , y   
x y
, .
3 3

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Example (6)
What are the coordinates of the triangular lamina in this diagram?

yy

3
-3 2
-2 1
-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 x

1
-1

2

3

Solution
yy

3
-3 2
-2 1
-1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 x

1
-1

2

3

The centre of mass lies 1/3 rd from the vertex at the right-angle both horizontally and
vertically. That is

 x , y    5
1 1
,3 
 3 3

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An isosceles triangle with base x and altitude y has its centre of mass located half way along the
base and 1/3 rd up the vertical axis.

y
y = y3

x
O x = x2

Example (7)
Find the centre of mass of a uniform lamina in the shape of an isosceles triangle OAB
with O at the origin, with base parallel to the x-axis, length OA  4 and altitude 9.

Solution

B
9

x y

A
x
O 2 4

 x , y   2,3

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Composite shapes
We will now consider the case where the lamina is a composite shape made up of simpler shapes
that are rectangles, triangles and discs. A composite body is one made up of separate parts each
of identifiable shape and mass and each having its own centre of mass. The aim is to find the
centre of mass of the composite body. This is done by means of taking moments according to the
principle that the moment of the whole body about its centre of mass is equal to the sum of the
moments of each of its parts.

Example (8)
The diagram shows a uniform lamina with dimensions as shown.

2
2
5 1

1
1 3

Find its centre of mass.

Solution
Place the bottom left-hand vertex at the origin and find the coordinates of the centres of
mass of three rectangular segments using the symmetry property that these lie at the
intersection of diagonals.

(0.5, 2.5) C (2, 2.5)

B (2.5, 0.5)
x

Let  x , y  be the centre of mass. The coordinates of the centre of mass of each piece are

as indicated. Assume that the lamina has a uniform density of 1 per unit area. These are
arbitrary units. Then the mass of each segment is equal to its area.

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 mA  5
mB  3
mc  2

The total mass is the sum of these parts, that is M  10 .

Taking moments about Oy (the y-axis)
10x  mA x A  mB x B  mC xC
 5  0.5  3  2.5  2  2
 14
x  1.4
Taking moments about Ox
10y  mA y A  mB y B  mC y C
 5  2.5  3  0.5  2  2.5
 19
y  1.9

You can be asked to find the centre of mass created by the removal of one shape from another.
In the previous example the shape was a composite of three laminas added together, and the
centre of mass was found by adding the moments of each lamina. When one shape is cut out of
another then the overall centre of mass is found by subtracting the moment created by the
missing shape. The following example will make this clear.

Example (9)
The diagram shows a uniform lamina formed by removing a triangular section EFD, with
dimensions in cm as shown, from a metal rectangular plate ABCD, where AB = 15 cm and
AD = 9 cm.

B 9 C

15 E

A F 3 D

Find the distances of the centre of mass of the lamina from AB and AD, giving your
answers correct to one decimal place.

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Solution
We redraw the diagram as follows with the origin placed at A.

B 9 C

(x, y )
15 E
(4.5, 7.5)

6
(8, 2)
Q
x
A F 3 D

The centre of mass of the rectangle ABCD lies at  4.5, 7.5 . The centre of mass of the

missing triangle lies at 8,2 . This follows the principle that the centre of mass of a

triangular lamina lies 1/3 along each edge and at the intersection of the medians. Let the
centre of mass of the shape ADCBF lie at  x , y  .

The mass of the rectangle ABCD is 15  9  135 arbitrary units. The mass of the triangle
1
DEF is  3  6  9 arbitrary units. The mass of the lamina ADCBF is the mass of the
2
rectangle less the mass of the triangle; that is, M = 135  9 = 126 arbitrary units.

Resolving about Oy
Moment of ABCEF about x = moment of ABCD about x  4.5  moment of  about x  8 .
Note here the negative sign. The triangle is missing so we subtract its moment.
M x  mR  4.5  m  8
126 x  135  4.5  9  8
x  4.25  4.3 cm 1.d.p.

Resolving about Ox
Moment of ABCEF about y = moment of ABCD about y  7.5  moment of  about y  2 .

M y  mR  7.5  m  2
126 y  135  7.5  9  2
y  7.898...  7.9 cm 1.d.p.

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Suspended laminas
When an object is suspended and hangs freely under gravity from a point then the line drawn
from the point of suspension through the centre of gravity is vertical. The centre of gravity is
located where the centre of mass is located.

Example (9) continued

The lamina is suspended freely from the point C and hangs in equilibrium. Calculate the
angle CB makes with the vertical.

Solution
We recommend rotating the paper on which the shape is printed in order to visualise the
problem. You must make a vertical line joining the point C in this case and the centre of
gravity of the shape, located at  x , y    4.3, 7.9  .

4.7

B 7.1
(x, y )

7.9

4.3
A

Let the angle between CB and the line joining C to the centre of mass at  x , y    4.3, 7.9 

be  . Then the diagram shows that

 7.1 
  tan 1  
 4.7 
 57  nearest  

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