Center of mass separate bodies, such as the planets of the Solar System, the center of mass may not correspond to the position of any individual member of the system. 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
Locating the center of mass Locating the center of mass There are several methods for locating the center of mass of a body. This method is useful when one wishes to find the centroid of a complex planar shape with unknown dimensions. It relies on finding the center of mass of a thin body of homogeneous density having the same shape as the complex planar shape. This is a method of determining the center of mass of an L-shaped object. This method is useful when one wishes to find the location of the centroid or center of mass of an object that is easily divided