Instantaneous Center of Zero and Known Velocities

 

This section will focus on identifying points of zero or known velocities. If such points can be identified, calculations are simplified. You probably realized this while you were analyzing mechanisms in the last section.

 

Instantaneous center of zero velocity

 

The instantaneous center of zero velocity (IC), for a rigid body, is a point on or off the rigid body that has zero velocity for an instant.

 

• This point has a zero velocity at that instant.
• The IC changes with time, therefore its acceleration is not zero.
• If we can identify the IC it simplifies our analysis.