The problem describes a composite object made of four identical rectangular plates. The question asks which point is most likely to be the center of gravity (center of mass) of the composite object, given the points labeled A, B, C, D, and E.

1. Problem Description

The problem describes a composite object made of four identical rectangular plates. The question asks which point is most likely to be the center of gravity (center of mass) of the composite object, given the points labeled A, B, C, D, and E.

2. Solution Steps

The center of gravity of an object is the point where the entire weight of the object can be considered to act. For a composite object, the center of gravity is the weighted average of the centers of gravity of its constituent parts. Since the four rectangular plates are identical, each has the same mass. Thus, we can simply average the positions of their individual centers to find the overall center of gravity.

First, consider the symmetry of the object. If the object were perfectly symmetrical horizontally, the center of gravity would lie on a vertical line. While it's not completely symmetrical, it's reasonably close.

Visually, points A and D are clearly outside the composite object. Point E is close to the edge, so is less likely than points B and C. Now we need to analyze B and C.

Since the plates are identical, each has the same mass. The center of gravity of each plate is at its geometric center. The composite object is made up of four plates, so we can estimate the center of gravity of the entire object by looking at the geometric arrangement of the plates. The "center" of the arrangement visually falls closer to point B.

3. Final Answer

(2) B