(April 26, 2019 at 2:25 pm)onlinebiker Wrote:(April 26, 2019 at 2:13 pm)Fireball Wrote: Don't need calculus unless you're a masochist. If the rod is standing on the ground, its center of mass is 1/2 way up the bar. PE=mgl for the center of mass, thus mgl/2 for the bar.
Practically yes.
But - if picking nits --
Earth' s gravitational attraction is stronger at the " bottom" ( in relation to the earth) than it is at the top - so the center of mass will be below the centerpoint of the rod...
That difference is orders of magnitude smaller than the error in the measurement of the length of the rod.
If you get to thinking you’re a person of some influence, try ordering somebody else’s dog around.
