Moment
A number indicating the degree to which a figure tends to balance on a given line (axis). A moment of
zero indicates perfect balance, and a large moment indicates a
strong
tendency
to tip over.
Formally, the moment of a point P
about a fixed axis is the mass of P times the distance from P to
the axis. For a
figure, the moment is the cumulative sum of
the moments of all the figure's points. This cumulative sum is
the same as the
mass of the figure times the distance from the figure's center
of mass to the fixed axis.
Note: This is similar to, but not the
same as, the physics quantity known as moment of inertia.

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