Page:Various Forces of Matter.djvu/33

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CENTRE OF GRAVITY.
21

will know at once that it is the centre of gravity—that point in me where the whole gravitating force of my body is centred, and which I thus bring in a line over my foot.

Here is a toy I happened to see the other day, which will, I think, serve to illustrate our subject very well. That toy ought to lie something in this manner (fig. 5). And would do so if it were uniform in substance; but you see it does not, it will get up again. And now philosophy comes to our aid; and I am perfectly sure,

Fig. 5.

Fig. 6.

without looking inside the figure, that there is some arrangement by which the centre of gravity is at the lowest point when the image is standing upright; and we may be certain when I am tilting it over (see fig. 6) that I am lifting up the centre of gravity (a), and

c 3