[Math] Center of Mass and Centroid

calculusdefinite integralsintegration

Find the centroid of the region lying between the graphs of the functions $y=\sin x$ and $y=\cos x$ over the interval $[0,\frac\pi4]$.

I approached the question like this:

  1. Find the $M$
    $$M = \int_0^{\tfrac\pi4}(\sin x-\cos x)\,dx = 1-\sqrt2$$
  2. Find the $M$ of $y$
    $$M_y = \int_0^{\tfrac\pi4}x(\sin x-\cos x)\,dx = 1-\frac{\pi}{2\sqrt2}$$
  3. Find the $M$ of $x$
    $$M_x = \int_0^{\tfrac\pi4}\frac12(\sin x-\cos x)^2\,dx = \frac18(\pi-2)$$
  4. The center of mass at $y = M_x/M$ and the center of mass at $x = M_y/M$
    $$y = \frac{\dfrac18(\pi-2)}{1-\sqrt2},x = \frac{1-\dfrac{\pi}{2\sqrt2}}{1-\sqrt2}$$

I appreciate the help! Thank you for the comments.

Best Answer

See the picture below.

enter image description here

As you can see, $\cos x$ is above $\sin x$ or $\cos x>\sin x$ for $\left[0,\dfrac\pi4\right]$. Therefore $$ \begin{align} M&=\int_0^\frac\pi4(\cos x-\sin x)\ dx=\sqrt{2}-1,\\\\ M_y&=\int_0^\frac\pi4x(\cos x-\sin x)\ dx=\frac14(\sqrt{2}\pi-4),\quad\Rightarrow\quad\text{use IBP} \end{align} $$ and $$ \begin{align} M_x&=\frac12\int_0^\frac\pi4(\cos x+\sin x)(\cos x-\sin x)\ dx\\ &=\frac12\int_0^\frac\pi4(\cos^2 x-\sin^2 x)\ dx\\ &=\frac12\int_0^\frac\pi4\cos2x\ dx\\ &=\frac14. \end{align} $$ I think you can handle it from here. I hope this helps.