Calculating the Center of Gravity

by Christopher Bell

Submitted : Fall 2008

Utilizing trapezoidal integration techniques, the centroid of an area bounded by a curve (or a number of curves) can be calculated numerically. To find the centroid, the overall area is first calculated. Using Excel, the area in question is broken up into four separate integrals, each of which is then approximated according to specific step sizes. By default, the step size of L/100 is used (where L is the length given by the bounds on the curves). Once the overall area is caluculated, the coordinate of the centriod can be identified.

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