6

Centroid and Moment of Inertia

CENTRE OF GRAVITY

We know that earth attracts every particle towards its centre with a force that is proportional to the mass of the particle. For different particles of a rigid body, these forces, which meet at the centre of the earth, may be considered parallel, as the distance to the centre is usually large in comparison to the size of the body. Thus, they form a system of parallel forces. The resultant of these forces is called the weight of the body.

The weight of a body acts through a definite point in the body, viz. the centre of the above-mentioned system of parallel forces. Such a point is called the centre of gravity of the body.

The centre of gravity of a body, or the system of particles rigidly connected ...

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