Chapter 7, Problem 16Q

To determine

To explain: The reason due to which centre of mass a person arm or leg does not lie at its mid-point.

Explanation of Solution

Introduction:

Centre of mass is the point where whole mass of an object is concentrated.

The 1m pipe has uniform diameter. So its mass is equally distributed along the length. The centre of mass lies at the midpoint for the pipe as the mass is uniformly distributed.

Human arm or leg does not have uniform distribution of mass. The diameter of arm is large at shoulder and small at wrist. Same also for leg. So centre of mass for arm or leg doe not lie at midpoint of it.

Conclusion:

For arm or leg of human body mass is not uniformly distributed, so the centre of mass will not lie at midpoint.