How can I find the point of balance of an half ellipsoid with the equation $\frac{x^2}{a^2}+\frac{y^2}{b^2}+\frac{z^2}{c^2}=1,\:x\ge 0$

41 Views Asked by At

How can I find the point of balance of an half ellipsoid with the equation

$$\frac{x^2}{a^2}+\frac{y^2}{b^2}+\frac{z^2}{c^2}=1,\:x\ge 0$$ As point of balance I mean the point on the surface it stays when laid down on a flat surface. And I think this means that the surface normal of the surface at the point when the semi-ellipsoid is laid down must direct to the center of mass. The solution will probably be a set of points on the surface that form a circle.

After some integration I have found the center of mass of the ellipsoid as $\left(\frac{3}{8}a,0,0\right)$ .

Now I think I need to find the point on the surface of the semi-ellipsoid which will have a surface normal that points towards the exact point $\left(\frac{3}{8}a,0,0\right)$ .

Or maybe find the closest point on the surface to the point $\left(\frac{3}{8}a,0,0\right)$ because that will also be perpendicular to surface?