Finding the Centroid of an Airfoil

by Evan Fountain

Submitted : Spring 2014

The purpose of this paper is to show how to determine the centroid of an airfoil, the first step in finding the moment of the system about the x or y axis. An airfoil is the cross-section of virtually all wings, flippers, sails, and other shapes whose purpose is to move fluids. Essentially an airfoil has a long edge and a short edge. When passing through a fluid these edges cause a pressure differential that creates a force whose vector moves from the short edge of the airfoil to the long edge. Depending upon the orientation of each edge as the airfoil moves through the fluid you will either get positive lift (when the long edge is above the short) or negative lift (when the short edge is below the long.)

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