Page 29 - statbility for masters and mates

Centroids and the centre of gravity 17
Fig. 2.10
and the ship's centre of gravity will move from G2 to G3 in a direction directly away from g2. G3 is therefore the ®nal position of the ship's centre of gravity after discharging the weight.
From this it can be seen that the net effect of discharging the weight is a shift of the ship's centre of gravity from G to G3, directly away from the centre of gravity of the weight discharged. This would agree with the earlier conclusions which have been reached in Figure 2.4.
Note. The only way in which the position of the centre of gravity of a ship can be altered is by changing the distribution of the weights within the ship, i.e. by adding, removing, or shifting weights.
Students ®nd it hard sometimes to accept that the weight, when suspended from the derrick, acts at its point of suspension.
However, it can be proved, by experimenting with ship models or observing full-size ship tests. The ®nal angle of heel when measured veri®es that this assumption is indeed correct.