1.

CENTER OF MASS - BARYCENTER

In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space is the unique point where the weighted
relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. The distribution of mass is balanced around the
center of mass and the average of the weighted position coordinates of the distributed mass defines its
coordinates. Calculations in mechanics are often simplified when formulated with respect to the center of
mass.
In the case of a single rigid body, the center of mass is fixed in relation to the body, and if the body has
uniform density, it will be located at the centroid. The center of mass may be located outside the physical
body, as is sometimes the case for hollow or open-shaped objects, such as a horseshoe.
The center of mass is a useful reference point for calculations in mechanics that involve masses
distributed in space, such as the linear and angular momentum of planetary bodies and rigid body
dynamics. In orbital mechanics, the equations of motion of planets are formulated as point masses located
at the centers of mass.
The center of mass frame is an inertial frame in which the center of mass of a system is at rest with
respect to the origin of the coordinate system.

1.1 Definition
The center of mass is the unique point at the center of a distribution of mass in space that has the property
that the weighted position vectors relative to this point sum to zero. In analogy to statistics, the center of
mass is the mean location of a distribution of mass in space.

1.2 A system of particles

In the case of a system of particles Pi, i = 1, …, n , each with mass mi that are located in space with
coordinates ri, i = 1, …, n , the coordinates R of the center of mass satisfy the condition:
n

∑ m (r
i =1
i i − R) = 0 (1.1)

where the position vector, ri , of the i-th mass is given by:

ri = i xi + j yi + k zi (1.2)
And the position vector, R, of the center of mass is:
R = i xG + j yG + k zG (1.3)
Solve equation (1.1) for R to obtain the formula:
n
1
R=
M
∑mr
i =1
i i (1.4)

where M is the sum of the masses of all of the particles.

n
M = ∑ mi (1.5)
i =1

1.3 A continuous volume

If the mass distribution is continuous with the density ρ(r) within a volume V, then the integral of the
weighted position coordinates of the points in this volume relative to the center of mass R is zero, that is:

∫ ρ (r ) ( r − R ) d V = 0
V
(1.6)
Solve this equation for the coordinates R to obtain:
1
R=
M ∫ ρ (r ) r d V
V
(1.7)

where M is the total mass in the volume.

If a continuous mass distribution has uniform density, which means ρ is constant, then the center of mass
is the same as the centroid of the volume. The center of mass is not the point at which a plane separates
the distribution of mass into two equal halves. In analogy with statistics, the median is not the same as the
mean.

1.4 Barycentric coordinates

The coordinates R of the center of mass of a two-particle system, P1 and P2, with masses m1 and m2 is
given by:
1
R=
m1 + m 2
(m r1 1 + m 2 r2 ) (1.8)

Let the percentage of the total mass divided between these two particles vary from 100% P1 and 0% P2
through 50% P1 and 50% P2 to 0% P1 and 100% P2, then the center of mass R moves along the line from
P1 to P2. The percentages of mass at each point can be viewed as projective coordinates of the point R on
this line, and are termed barycentric coordinates. Another way of interpreting the process here is the
mechanical balancing of moments about an arbitrary datam. The numerator gives the total moment which
is then balanced by an equivalent total force at the center of mass. This can be generalized to three points
and four points to define projective coordinates in the plane, and in space, respectively.

Figure 1.1

Consider the rigid body and the absolute Cartesian coordinate system illustrated in Figure 1.1.
The position of the barycenter G of the rigid body is given by the coordinates xG, yG, zG, that is by the
( )
components of vector G − O . The coordinates xG, yG, zG are given by:

∫ ρ ( x, y , z ) x d V ∫ ρ ( x, y , z ) y d V ∫ ρ ( x, y , z ) z d V (1.9)
xG = V
yG = V
zG = V
M M M
where:

M = ∫ ρ ( x, y , z ) d V (1.10)
V
2. CENTER OF GRAVITY

Center of gravity is the point in a body around which the resultant torque due to gravity forces vanishes.
Near the surface of the earth, where the gravity acts downward as a parallel force field, the center of
gravity and the center of mass of an arbitrary body are the same.
The study of the dynamics of aircraft, vehicles and vessels assumes that the system moves in near-earth
gravity, and therefore the terms center of gravity and center of mass are used interchangeably.
In physics the benefits of using the center of mass to model a mass distribution can be seen by
considering the resultant of the gravity forces on a continuous body. Consider a body of volume V with
density ρ(r) at each point r in the volume. In a parallel gravity field the force f at each point r is given by:
f (r ) = − d m g k = − ρ (r ) d V g k (2.1)
where d m is the mass at the point r, g is the scalar value of the acceleration of gravity, and k is a unit
vector defining the vertical direction. Choose a reference point R in the volume and compute the resultant
force and torque at this point:

F = ∫ f (r ) = ∫ ρ (r ) d V ( − g k ) = − M g k (2.2)
V V

and

⎛ ⎞
T = ∫ (r − R ) × f (r ) = ∫ (r − R ) × ( − g ρ (r ) d V k ) = ⎜ ∫ ρ (r )(r − R ) d V ⎟⎠ × ( − g k ) (2.3)
V V ⎝ V

If the reference point R is chosen so that it is the center of mass, then:

∫ ρ (r )(r − R ) d V = 0
V
(2.4)

which means the resultant torque T = 0. Because the resultant torque is zero the body will move as though
it is a particle with its mass concentrated at the center of mass.
By selecting the center of gravity as the reference point for a rigid body, the gravity forces will not cause
the body to rotate, which means weight of the body can be considered to be concentrated at the center of
mass.

3. MASS MOMENT OF INERTIA

Moment of inertia is the mass property of a rigid body that determines the torque needed for a desired
angular acceleration about an axis of rotation. Moment of inertia depends on the shape of the body and
may be different about different axes of rotation. A larger moment of inertia about a given axis requires
more torque to increase the rotation, or to stop the rotation, of a body about that axis. Moment of inertia
depends on the amount and distribution of its mass and can be found through the sum of moments of
inertia of the masses making up the whole object, under the same conditions. For example, if
ma + mb = mc, then Ia + Ib = Ic.
In classical mechanics, moment of inertia may also be called mass moment of inertia, rotational inertia,
polar moment of inertia, or the angular mass.
For planar movement of a body, the trajectories of all of its points lie in parallel planes, and the rotation
occurs only about an axis perpendicular to this plane. In this case, the body has a single moment of
inertia, which is measured about this axis.
For spatial movement of a body, the moment of inertia is defined by its symmetric 3 × 3 inertia matrix.
The inertia matrix is often described as a symmetric rank two tensor, having six independent components.
The inertia matrix includes off-diagonal terms called products of inertia that couple torque about one axis
to angular acceleration about another axis. Each body has a set of mutually perpendicular axes, called
principal axes, for which the off-diagonal terms of the inertia matrix are zero and a torque about a
principal axis only affects the acceleration about that axis.
Let us consider the rigid body and the axis a illustrated in Figure 3.1. The mass of the infinitesimal
volume, d V , located in P is given by: d m = ρ ( d V) . Let us denote by d the distance between the
volume d V and the axis a. The mass moment of inertia about this axis is given by:

Ja = ∫ ( ρ d2 ) d V (3.1)
V

Now, let us consider a point O (Figure 3.2). The mass moment of inertia about pole O is given by:

JP = ∫ ( ρ r2 ) d V (3.2)
V

where r is the distance between the volume d V and point O.

Therefore, the Engineering Units (EU) of a mass moment of inertia is [ kg · m2 ].

Figure 2.1 Mass moment of inertia about an axis Figure 2.2 Mass moment of inertia about a pole

Now, let us consider the rigid body and the absolute Cartesian coordinate system, with origin at O,
illustrated in Figure 3.3.

Figure 3.3 Mass moment of inertia about concurrent axes

Once again, the mass of the infinitesimal volume, d V , located in P is given by: d m = ρ ( d V) . If the
material of the rigid body is not homogeneous the density ρ depends on the coordinates x, y, z of the point
P. That is ρ = ρ ( x, y, z ). Let us denote by r a straight line passing through O and by u a versor that
indicates the direction of this axis. The angles formed by the line r and the axes x-y-z are α, β, γ,
respectively. The corresponding directional cosines are:
α * = cos (α ) β * = cos ( β ) γ * = cos (γ ) (3.3)
The distance, d, between the infinitesimal volume d V and axis r is given by:

d= ( P − O) ∧ u (3.4)
Therefore, the mass moment of inertia is given by:

∫ ρ ⎡⎣ ( P − O ) ∧ u⎤⎦
2
J= ∫ρd dV =
2
dV (3.5)
V V

The cross-product of eq.(3.4) can be expressed as:

i j k
( P − O) ∧ u = x y z = i ( yγ * − z β * ) − j ( xγ * − zα* ) + k ( x β * − zα* ) (3.6)
α *
β *
γ *

The square value of this cross-product can be written as:

( P − O) ∧ u = α *2 ( z 2 + y 2 ) + β *2 ( x 2 + z 2 ) + γ *2 ( x 2 + y 2 ) +
2

(3.7)
− 2 β γ y z − 2 γ α z x − 2α β x y
* * * * * *

Substituting eq.(3.7) into eq.(3.5) we obtain:

J = α *2 ∫ ρ ( z 2 + y 2 ) d V + β *2 ∫ ρ ( x 2 + z 2 ) d V + γ *2 ∫ ρ ( x 2 + y 2 ) d V +
V V V
(3.8)
− 2β γ ∫ ρ ( y z ) d V − 2 γ α ∫ ρ ( z x ) d V − 2α β ∫ ρ ( x y ) d V
* * * * * *
V V V

The six integrals of eq.(3.8) can be written as:

J xx = ∫ ρ (z 2 + y 2 )d V J yy = ∫ ρ (x 2 + z 2 )d V J zz = ∫ ρ (x 2 + y 2 )d V
V V V
(3.9)
J xy = − ∫V
ρ xydV J xz = − ∫
V
ρ xz d V J yz = − ∫V
ρ yz dV

with:
J xy = J yx J xz = J zx J yz = J zy (3.10)
Therefore, the eq.(3.1) can be rewritten as:

J = α *2 J xx + β *2 J yy + γ *2 J zz + 2 β *γ * J yz + 2 γ *α * J xz + 2 α *β * J xy (3.11)

The terms of the moment of inertia expressed by eqs.(3.9) can be assembled into a 3 × 3 matrix called
Inertia Tensor. That is:
⎡ J xx J xy J xz ⎤
[ J ] = ⎢⎢J yx J yy J yz ⎥
⎥
(3.12)
⎢⎣ J zx J zy J zz ⎥⎦
The mass moment of inertia depends on a reference axis, and is usually specified with two subscripts.
This helps to provide clarity during three-dimensional motion where rotation can occur about multiple
axes. The off-diagonal terms of this matrix are called cross-products.
It is possible to demonstrate that for any rigid body a particular orientation of the Cartesian coordinate
system exists for which all the cross-products nullify. In this case eq.(3.12) becomes:
 ⎡ J xx 0 0⎤ ⎡ J1 0 0⎤
[ J ] = ⎢⎢ 0 J yy 0 = ⎢ 0 J2
⎥
⎥ ⎢
0⎥
⎥ (3.13)
⎣⎢ 0 0 J zz ⎦⎥ ⎣⎢ 0 0 J 3 ⎥⎦
The mass moment of inertia J1, J2 and J3 are called principal moments of inertia, while the corresponding
axes are called principal axes of inertia.

3.1 Parallel-axis theorem (Huygens - Steiner theorem)

The moment of inertia about any axis can be calculated from the moment of inertia, JG, about a parallel
axis which passes through the center of mass, G. The equation to calculate this is called the parallel axis
theorem and is given as:
J1 = J G + m Δ 21 (3.12)

where m is the mass of the rigid body and Δ 1 is the distance between the two axes. The mass moment of
inertia about an axis that passes through the center of mass is always lower than those evaluated
considering any other parallel axis. If a further parallel axis is considered we have:
J 2 = J G + m Δ 22 (3.13)
Therefore:
J 2 = J1 + m ( Δ 22 − Δ 21 ) (3.14)

3.2 Effects of the moment of inertia: some trivial examples

Athletes like gymnasts, divers and figure skaters have to control the moment of inertia of their body to
perform a proper athletic exercise.

Figure 3.4 Figure skaters can reduce their moment of
inertia by pulling in their arms, allowing them to spin
faster due to conservation of angular momentum.
Conversely, when they open their arms the body
angular velocity about vertical axis decreases
Figure 3.5 The diver is reducing its moment of inertia,
about the longitudinal axis (passing through head and
feet), by pulling in its arms, allowing he to spin faster
due to conservation of angular momentum. Before
entering the water he opens his arms to stop the spin
Figure 3.6 In this case the diver reduces her moment of
inertia by pulling in her arms, allowing she to spin
faster about the horizontal axis. Before entering the
Figure 3.7 How a diver can perform a right plunge
water she opens her arms to stop the spin