Eli5: when you “lower the center of gravity” on something ( car, or whatever) does it actually have anything to do with gravity?

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Eli5: when you “lower the center of gravity” on something ( car, or whatever) does it actually have anything to do with gravity?

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8 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Just think of the phrase, Top Heavy.

If a semi truck has a very tall load that makes it very, “wobbly,” when the truck makes a sharp turn it might topple over. The load makes the truck unstable when changing direction.

If that same load was repositioned on the trailer some to the front and some to the rear, the truck would not be so wobbly and would be able to change direction in a turn without toppling over.

When more of the weight of a vehicle is positioned low and in the center, the force of gravity is less likely to pull the vehicle against the direction that the driver wants the vehicle to go.

Think of a waiter carrying a service tray with 20 plates. If the waiter stacks all 20 plates on top of each other in a tall tower, when the waiter changes their direction to go around a corner the momentum of the stack will resist the change and “topple.”

If the waiter spreads out the 20 plates across the whole surface of the tray only going up 3 or 4 high, they will be able to change direction without toppling the load.

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