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Diagram of an educational toy that balances on a point: the center of mass (C) settles below its support (P) A body's center of gravity is the point around which the resultant torque due to gravity forces vanishes. [13] Where a gravity field can be considered to be uniform, the mass-center and the center-of-gravity will be the same.
Textbooks such as The Feynman Lectures on Physics characterize the center of gravity as a point about which there is no torque. In other words, the center of gravity is a point of application for the resultant force. [3] Under this formulation, the center of gravity r cg is defined as a point that satisfies the equation
So, for example, when a truck is loaded, its center of gravity shifts rearward and the force on the rear tires increases. The vehicle will then ride lower. The amount the vehicle sinks will depend on counter acting forces, like the size of the tires, tire pressure, and the spring rate of the suspension.
Ideally, a car should carry passengers and baggage near its center of gravity and have similar tire loading, camber angle and roll stiffness in front and back to minimise the variation in handling characteristics. A driver can learn to deal with excessive oversteer or understeer, but not if it varies greatly in a short period of time.
The tilt test is a type of safety test that certain government vehicle certification bodies require new vehicle designs to pass before being allowed on the road or rail track. The test is an assessment of the weight distribution and hence the position of the centre of gravity of the vehicle, and can be carried out in a laden or unladen state, i ...
The static rollover critical angle can be determined by measuring the angle between level ground and an imaginary line drawn from skid to skid, when the helicopter's center of gravity is located on the upward pivot line. [4] [5] Static rollover also pertains to automobiles. In the study of roll stability of vehicles, the static rollover ...
Directional stability is stability of a moving body or vehicle about an axis which is perpendicular to its direction of motion. Stability of a vehicle concerns itself with the tendency of a vehicle to return to its original direction in relation to the oncoming medium (water, air, road surface, etc.) when disturbed (rotated) away from that original direction.
With perfect Ackermann, at any angle of steering, the centre point of all of the circles traced by all wheels will lie at a common point. Modern cars do not use pure Ackermann steering, partly because it ignores important dynamic and compliant effects, but the principle is sound for low-speed maneuvers.