[Math] Center of mass of a circular arc

algebraic-geometrycirclesdifferential-geometrygeometry

I have an infinitesimally thin wire in the shape of a circular arc, with uniform mass distribution. I would like to know the location of the center of mass of the wire.

The arc subtends an angle of 120° (one third of a full circle), and the radius is 3.

From the symmetry, I know that the center of mass is between the center of the circle, and the midpoint of the circular arc, but I do not know how to calculate the distance from the center of the circle to the center of mass.

I'm interested in the geometric aspects of the problem, not so much on the physical aspects of it.

Best Answer

Let me show the most general way to find the answer.

For a curve (or an infinitesimally thin wire with uniform density, i.e. uniform linear mass distribution), the center of mass is at the centroid of the curve.

In the general 2D case, the centroid of a parametric curve $\vec{s}(t) = \left ( x(t) , y(t) \right )$, $t_0 \le t \le t_1$ is at $( \hat{x} , \hat{y} )$, $$\begin{cases} \hat{x} = \frac{1}{L} \displaystyle \int_{t_0}^{t_1} x(t) \, \delta(t) \, dt \\ \hat{y} = \frac{1}{L} \displaystyle \int_{t_0}^{t_1} y(t) \, \delta(t) \, dt \end{cases} \tag{1}\label{NA1}$$ where $\delta(t) \, dt$ is the arc length parameter at $t$, $$\delta(t) \, dt = \sqrt{ \left( \frac{ d\, x(t) }{ d t } \right )^2 + \left( \frac{ d\, y(t) }{ d\, t} \right) ^2 } \, dt$$ and $L$ is the total length of the curve, $$L = \int_{t_0}^{t_1} \delta(t) \, dt$$

In this particular case, we have a circular arc, $$\begin{cases} x(\theta) = r \cos(\theta) \\ y(\theta) = r \sin(\theta) \end{cases}$$ and therefore $$\delta(\theta) \, d\theta = \sqrt{ \left(-r \sin(\theta)\right)^2 + \left(r \cos(\theta)\right)^2 } \, d\theta = \sqrt{ r^2 \left( (\sin\theta)^2 + (\cos\theta)^2 \right) } \, d\theta = \sqrt{ r^2 } \, d\theta = r \, d\theta$$ The arc distends one third of a full circle, or 120°. If we put the center of the circle at origin, and the midpoint of the arc on the positive $y$ axis, then $\theta$ ranges from $90°-120°/2 = 30°$ to $90°+120°/2 = 150°$, i.e. from $\theta = \pi/6$ radians to $\theta = 5 \pi/6$ radians.

The length $L$ of the circular arc we already know from geometry; it is one third of the perimeter of the circle of radius $r$, $$L = \frac{2 \pi r}{3}$$

Substituting these to $\eqref{NA1}$ we get $$\begin{cases} \hat{x} = \frac{3}{2 \pi r} \displaystyle\int_{\pi/6}^{5\pi/6} r \cos(\theta) \, r \, d\theta \\ \hat{y} = \frac{3}{2 \pi r} \displaystyle\int_{\pi/6}^{5\pi/6} r \sin(\theta) \, r \, d\theta \end{cases}$$ which simplify to $$\begin{cases} \hat{x} = \frac{3 r}{2 \pi} \displaystyle\int_{\pi/6}^{5\pi/6} \cos(\theta) \, d\theta = \frac{3 r}{2 \pi} \left(\Bigl[-\sin\theta \Bigr]_{\pi/6}^{5\pi/6} \right) \\ \hat{y} = \frac{3 r}{2 \pi} \displaystyle\int_{\pi/6}^{5\pi/6} \sin(\theta) \, d\theta = \frac{3 r}{2 \pi} \left(\Bigl[\cos\theta \Bigr]_{\pi/6}^{5\pi/6} \right) \end{cases}$$ Because $-\sin(\pi/6) - -sin(5\pi/6) = 0$, $\hat{x} = 0$. Which is completely expected, because we arranged the arc to be symmetric around the $y$ axis. Because $\cos(\pi / 6) - \cos(5\pi / 6) = \sqrt{3}/2 - -\sqrt{3}/2 = \sqrt{3}$, $$\hat{y} = \frac{3 r}{2 \pi} \sqrt{3} = \frac{3 \sqrt{3}}{2 \pi} r$$

In the case of $r = 3$, $$\hat{y} = \frac{9 \sqrt{3}}{2 \pi} \approx 2.48$$

This is in perfect agreement with King Tut's answer.