What is "center of gravity"

Gravity \Grav"i*ty\, n.; pl. Gravities. [L. gravitas, fr. gravis heavy; cf. F. gravit['e]. See Grave, a., Grief.]

1. The state of having weight; beaviness; as, the gravity of lead.

2. Sobriety of character or demeanor. ``Men of gravity and learning.''
   --Shak.

3. Importance, significance, dignity, etc; hence, seriousness; enormity; as, the gravity of an offense.

   They derive an importance from . . . the gravity of the place where they were uttered.
   --Burke.

4. (Physics) The tendency of a mass of matter toward a center of attraction; esp., the tendency of a body toward the center of the earth; terrestrial gravitation.

5. (Mus.) Lowness of tone; -- opposed to acuteness.

   Center of gravity See under Center.

   Gravity battery, See Battery, n., 4.

   Specific gravity, the ratio of the weight of a body to the weight of an equal volume of some other body taken as the standard or unit. This standard is usually water for solids and liquids, and air for gases. Thus, 19, the specific gravity of gold, expresses the fact that, bulk for bulk, gold is nineteen times as heavy as water.

Center \Cen"ter\, n. [F. centre, fr. L. centrum, fr. round which a circle is described, fr. ? to prick, goad.]

1. A point equally distant from the extremities of a line, figure, or body, or from all parts of the circumference of a circle; the middle point or place.

2. The middle or central portion of anything.

3. A principal or important point of concentration; the nucleus around which things are gathered or to which they tend; an object of attention, action, or force; as, a center of attaction.

4. The earth. [Obs.]
   --Shak.

5. Those members of a legislative assembly (as in France) who support the existing government. They sit in the middle of the legislative chamber, opposite the presiding officer, between the conservatives or monarchists, who sit on the right of the speaker, and the radicals or advanced republicans who occupy the seats on his left, See Right, and Left.

6. (Arch.) A temporary structure upon which the materials of a vault or arch are supported in position until the work becomes self-supporting.

7. (Mech.)

   1. One of the two conical steel pins, in a lathe, etc., upon which the work is held, and about which it revolves.

   2. A conical recess, or indentation, in the end of a shaft or other work, to receive the point of a center, on which the work can turn, as in a lathe. Note: In a lathe the live center is in the spindle of the head stock; the dead center is on the tail stock. Planer centers are stocks carrying centers, when the object to be planed must be turned on its axis. Center of an army, the body or troops occupying the place in the line between the wings. Center of a curve or Center of a surface (Geom.)

      1. A point such that every line drawn through the point and terminated by the curve or surface is bisected at the point.

      2. The fixed point of reference in polar co["o]rdinates. See Co["o]rdinates.

         Center of curvature of a curve (Geom.), the center of that circle which has at any given point of the curve closer contact with the curve than has any other circle whatever. See Circle.

         Center of a fleet, the division or column between the van and rear, or between the weather division and the lee.

         Center of gravity (Mech.), that point of a body about which all its parts can be balanced, or which being supported, the whole body will remain at rest, though acted upon by gravity.

         Center of gyration (Mech.), that point in a rotating body at which the whole mass might be concentrated (theoretically) without altering the resistance of the intertia of the body to angular acceleration or retardation.

         Center of inertia (Mech.), the center of gravity of a body or system of bodies.

         Center of motion, the point which remains at rest, while all the other parts of a body move round it.

         Center of oscillation, the point at which, if the whole matter of a suspended body were collected, the time of oscillation would be the same as it is in the actual form and state of the body.

         Center of percussion, that point in a body moving about a fixed axis at which it may strike an obstacle without communicating a shock to the axis.

         Center of pressure (Hydros.), that point in a surface pressed by a fluid, at which, if a force equal to the whole pressure and in the same line be applied in a contrary direction, it will balance or counteract the whole pressure of the fluid.

alt. 1 (context physics English) A point, near or within a body, through which its weight can be assumed to act when considering forces on the body and its motion under gravity. This coincides with the center of mass in a uniform gravitational field. 2 (context metaphorical English) Any pivotal or central idea or group. n. 1 (context physics English) A point, near or within a body, through which its weight can be assumed to act when considering forces on the body and its motion under gravity. This coincides with the center of mass in a uniform gravitational field. 2 (context metaphorical English) Any pivotal or central idea or group.

n. the point within something at which gravity can be considered to act; in uniform gravity it is equal to the center of mass [syn: centre of gravity]

The center of gravity (CoG) is a concept developed by Carl Von Clausewitz, a Prussian military theorist, in his work On War.

In physics, a center of gravity of a material body is a point that may be used for a summary description of gravitational interactions.

Center of gravity may also refer to:

• Center of gravity (military), a concept developed by Carl Von Clausewitz, a Prussian military theorist
• In physics:
  • Center of mass, for which "center of gravity" is often a synonym
  • Centre of gravity frame or center of momentum frame, any inertial frame in which the center of mass is at rest
  • Centre of gravity wavelength, the power-weighted mean wavelength of a spectrum

Center of Gravity Festival is an annual three-day sport and music festival held in Kelowna, British Columbia, at the City Park on the Okanagan Lake and hosts approximately 25,000 people. Center of Gravity was founded by Scott Emslie in 2008, and is organized by Kelowna-based production company Wet Ape Productions. The event features eight sports: beach volleyball, crossfit, basketball, wakeboarding, freestyle mountain biking, FMX, skateboarding, and BMX. The event has three stages of music playing various genres of electronic, hip hop and rock (although primarily electronic focused) throughout the days and nights.

The center of gravity of a body is that point through which the resultant of the system of parallel forces formed by the weights of all the particles constituting the body passes for all positions of the body. It is denoted as "C.G" or "G". In a uniform gravitational field the center of gravity is identical to the center of mass.