Find the Centroid of a Polygon

Question

From Wikipedia:

The centroid of a non-self-intersecting closed polygon defined by n vertices (x₀,y₀), (x₁,y₁), ..., (x_n−1,y_n−1) is the point (C_x, C_y), where

and where A is the polygon's signed area,

In these formulas, the vertices are assumed to be numbered in order of their occurrence along the polygon's perimeter. Furthermore, the vertex ( x_n, y_n ) is assumed to be the same as ( x₀, y₀ ), meaning i + 1 on the last case must loop around to i = 0. Note that if the points are numbered in clockwise order the area A, computed as above, will have a negative sign; but the centroid coordinates will be correct even in this case.

---

• Given a list of vertices in order (either clockwise, or counter-clockwise), find the centroid of the non-self-intersecting closed polygon represented by the vertices.
  • If it helps, you may assume input to be only CW, or only CCW. Say so in your answer if you require this.
• The coordinates are not required to be integers, and may contain negative numbers.
• Input will always be valid and contain at least three vertices.
• Inputs only need to be handled that fit in your language's native floating point data type.
• You may assume that input numbers will always contain a decimal point.
• You may assume that input integers end in . or .0.
• You may use complex numbers for input.
• Output should be accurate to the nearest thousandth.

Examples

[(0.,0.), (1.,0.), (1.,1.), (0.,1.)]        -> (0.5, 0.5)
[(-15.21,0.8), (10.1,-0.3), (-0.07,23.55)]  -> -1.727 8.017
[(-39.00,-55.94), (-56.08,-4.73), (-72.64,12.12), (-31.04,53.58), (-30.36,28.29), (17.96,59.17), (0.00,0.00), (10.00,0.00), (20.00,0.00), (148.63,114.32), (8.06,-41.04), (-41.25,34.43)]   -> 5.80104769975, 15.0673812762

Too see each polygon on a coordinate plane, paste the coordinates without the square brackets in the "Edit" menu of this page.

I confirmed my results using this Polygon Centroid Point Calculator, which is awful. I couldn't find one that you can input all vertices at once, or that didn't try to erase your - sign when you type it first. I'll post my Python solution for your use after people have had a chance to answer.

Answer 1

Mathematica, 23 bytes

RegionCentroid@*Polygon

Take THAT, Jelly!

Edit: One does not simply beat Jelly...

Explanation

Polygon

Generate a polygon with vertices at the points specified.

RegionCentroid

Find the centroid of the polygon.

Answer 2

Jelly, 25 24 22 21 18 bytes

S×3÷@×"
ṙ-żµÆḊçS€S

Applies the formula shown in the problem.

Saved 3 bytes with help from @Jonathan Allan.

Try it online! or Verify all test cases.

Explanation

S×3÷@×"  Helper link. Input: determinants on LHS, sum of pairs on RHS
S        Sum the determinants
 ×3      Multiply by 3
     ×"  Vectorized multiply between determinants and sums
   ÷@    Divide that by the determinant sum multipled by 3 and return

ṙ-żµÆḊçS€S  Main link. Input: 2d list of points
ṙ-          Rotate the list of points by 1 to the right
  ż         Interleave those with the original points
            This creates all overlapping slices of length 2
   µ        Start new monadic chain
    ÆḊ      Get the determinant of each slice
       S€   Get the sum of each slice (sum of pairs of points)
      ç     Call the helper link
         S  Sum and return

Answer 3

J, 29 bytes

2+/@(+/\(*%3*1#.])-/ .*\)],{.

Applies the formula shown in the problem.

Usage

   f =: 2+/@(+/\(*%3*1#.])-/ .*\)],{.
   f 0 0 , 1 0 , 1 1 ,: 0 1
0.5 0.5
   f _15.21 0.8 , 10.1 _0.3 ,: _0.07 23.55
_1.72667 8.01667
   f _39 _55.94 , _56.08 _4.73 , _72.64 12.12 , _31.04 53.58 , _30.36 28.29 , 17.96 59.17 , 0 0 , 10 0 , 20 0 , 148.63 114.32 , 8.06 _41.04 ,: _41.25 34.43
5.80105 15.0674

Explanation

2+/@(+/\(*%3*1#.])-/ .*\)],{.  Input: 2d array of points P [[x1 y1] [x2 y2] ...]
                           {.  Head of P
                         ]     Get P
                          ,    Join, makes the end cycle back to the front
2                              The constant 2
2                      \       For each pair of points
                  -/ .*        Take the determinant
2    +/\                       Sum each pair of points
         *                     Multiply the sum of each pair by its determinant
          %                    Divide each by
             1#.]              The sum of the determinants
           3*                  Multiplied by 3
 +/@                           Sum and return

Answer 4

Maxima, 124 118 116 112 106 byte

f(l):=(l:endcons(l[1],l),l:sum([3,l[i-1]+l[i]]*determinant(matrix(l[i-1],l[i])),i,2,length(l)),l[2]/l[1]);

I'm not experienced with Maxima, so any hints are welcome.

Usage:

(%i6) f([[-15.21,0.8], [10.1,-0.3], [-0.07,23.55]]);
(%o6)              [- 1.726666666666668, 8.016666666666668]

Answer 5

Racket 420 bytes

(let*((lr list-ref)(getx(lambda(i)(lr(lr l i)0)))(gety(lambda(i)(lr(lr l i)1)))(n(length l))(j(λ(i)(if(= i(sub1 n))0(add1 i))))
(A(/(for/sum((i n))(-(*(getx i)(gety(j i)))(*(getx(j i))(gety i))))2))
(cx(/(for/sum((i n))(*(+(getx i)(getx(j i)))(-(*(getx i)(gety(j i)))(*(getx(j i))(gety i)))))(* 6 A)))
(cy(/(for/sum((i n))(*(+(gety i)(gety(j i)))(-(*(getx i)(gety(j i)))(*(getx(j i))(gety i)))))(* 6 A))))
(list cx cy))

Ungolfed:

(define(f l)
  (let* ((lr list-ref)
         (getx (lambda(i)(lr (lr l i)0)))
         (gety (lambda(i)(lr (lr l i)1)))
         (n (length l))
         (j (lambda(i) (if (= i (sub1 n)) 0 (add1 i))))
         (A (/(for/sum ((i n))
                (-(* (getx i) (gety (j i)))
                  (* (getx (j i)) (gety i))))
              2))
         (cx (/(for/sum ((i n))
                 (*(+(getx i)(getx (j i)))
                   (-(*(getx i)(gety (j i)))
                     (*(getx (j i))(gety i)))))
               (* 6 A)))
         (cy (/(for/sum ((i n))
                 (*(+(gety i)(gety (j i)))
                   (-(*(getx i)(gety (j i)))
                     (*(getx (j i))(gety i)))))
               (* 6 A))))
    (list cx cy)))

Testing:

(f '[(-15.21 0.8)  (10.1 -0.3)  (-0.07 23.55)] ) 
(f '[(-39.00 -55.94)  (-56.08 -4.73)  (-72.64 12.12)  (-31.04 53.58) 
     (-30.36 28.29)  (17.96 59.17)  (0.00 0.00)  (10.00 0.00)  
     (20.00 0.00) (148.63 114.32)  (8.06 -41.04)  (-41.25 34.43)])

Output:

'(-1.7266666666666677 8.01666666666667)
'(5.8010476997538465 15.067381276150996)

Answer 6

R, 129 127 bytes

function(l){s=sapply;x=s(l,`[`,1);y=s(l,`[`,2);X=c(x[-1],x[1]);Y=c(y[-1],y[1]);p=x*Y-X*y;c(sum((x+X)*p),sum((y+Y)*p))/sum(p)/3}

Unnamed function that take an R-list of tuples as input. The named equivalent can be called using e.g.:

f(list(c(-15.21,0.8),c(10.1,-0.3),c(-0.07,23.55)))

Ungolfed and explained

f=function(l){s=sapply;                           # Alias for sapply
              x=s(l,`[`,1);                       # Split list of tuples into vector of first elements
              y=s(l,`[`,2);                       # =||= but for second element 
              X=c(x[-1],x[1]);                    # Generate a vector for x(i+1)
              Y=c(y[-1],y[1]);                    # Generate a vector for y(i+1)
              p=x*Y-X*y;                          # Calculate the outer product used in both A, Cx and Cy
              c(sum((x+X)*p),sum((y+Y)*p))/sum(p)/3    # See post for explanation
}

The final step (c(sum((x+X)*p),sum((y+Y)*p))/sum(p)*2/6) is a vectorized way of calculating both Cx and Cy. The sum in the formulas for Cx and Cy are stored in a vector and consequently divided by the "sum in A" *2/6. E.g.:

(SUMinCx, SUMinCy) / SUMinA / 3

, and then implicitly printed.

Try it on R-fiddle

Answer 7

Python, 156 127 bytes

def f(p):n=len(p);p=p+p[:1];i=s=0;exec'd=(p[i].conjugate()*p[i+1]).imag;s+=d;p[i]=(p[i]+p[i+1])*d;i+=1;'*n;print sum(p[:n])/s/3

Ungolfed:

def f(points):
  n = len(points)
  points = points + [points[0]]
  determinantSum = 0
  for i in range(n):
    determinant = (points[i].conjugate() * points[i+1]).imag
    determinantSum += determinant
    points[i] = (points[i] + points[i+1]) * determinant
  print sum(points[:n]) / determinantSum / 3

Ideone it.

This takes each pair of points [x, y] as a complex number x + y*j, and outputs the resulting centroid as a complex number in the same format.

For the pair of points [a, b] and [c, d], the value a*d - b*c which is needed for each pair of points can be computed from the determinant of the matrix

| a b |
| c d |

Using complex arithmetic, the complex values a + b*j and c + d*j can be used as

conjugate(a + b*j) * (c + d*j)
(a - b*j) * (c + d*j)
(a*c + b*d) + (a*d - b*c)*j

Notice that the imaginary part is equivalent to the determinant. Also, using complex values allows the points to be easily summed component-wise in the other operations.

Answer 8

R + sp (46 bytes)

Assumes sp package is installed (https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/sp/)

Takes a list of vertices, (for example list(c(0.,0.), c(1.,0.), c(1.,1.), c(0.,1.)))

Takes advantage of the fact that the "labpt" of a Polygon is the centroid.

function(l)sp::Polygon(do.call(rbind,l))@labpt

Answer 9

JavaScript (ES6), 102

Straight implementation of the formula

l=>[...l,l[0]].map(([x,y],i)=>(i?(a+=w=t*y-x*u,X+=(t+x)*w,Y+=(u+y)*w):X=Y=a=0,t=x,u=y))&&[X/3/a,Y/3/a]

Test

f=
l=>[...l,l[0]].map(([x,y],i)=>(i?(a+=w=t*y-x*u,X+=(t+x)*w,Y+=(u+y)*w):X=Y=a=0,t=x,u=y))&&[X/3/a,Y/3/a]

function go()
{
  var c=[],cx,cy;
  // build coordinates array
  I.value.match(/-?[\d.]+/g).map((v,i)=>i&1?t[1]=+v:c.push(t=[+v]));
  console.log(c+''),
  [cx,cy]=f(c);
  O.textContent='CX:'+cx+' CY:'+cy;
  // try to display the polygon
  var mx=Math.max(...c.map(v=>v[0])),
    nx=Math.min(...c.map(v=>v[0])),
    my=Math.max(...c.map(v=>v[1])),
    ny=Math.min(...c.map(v=>v[1])),  
    dx=mx-nx, dy=my-ny,
    ctx=C.getContext("2d"),
    cw=C.width, ch=C.height,
    fx=(mx-nx)/cw, fy=(my-ny)/ch, fs=Math.max(fx,fy)
  C.width=cw
  ctx.setTransform(1,0,0,1,0,0);
  ctx.beginPath();
  c.forEach(([x,y],i)=>ctx.lineTo((x-nx)/fs,(y-ny)/fs));
  ctx.closePath();
  ctx.stroke();
  ctx.fillStyle='#ff0000';
  ctx.fillRect((cx-nx)/fs-2,(cy-ny)/fs-2,5,5);
}
go()

#I { width:90% }
#C { width:90%; height:200px;}

<input id=I value='[[-15.21,0.8], [10.1,-0.3], [-0.07,23.55]]'>
<button onclick='go()'>GO</button>
<pre id=O></pre>
<canvas id=C></canvas>

Answer 10

Python 2, 153 bytes

Uses no complex numbers.

P=input()
A=x=y=0;n=len(P)
for i in range(n):m=-~i%n;a=P[i][0];b=P[i][1];c=P[m][0];d=P[m][1];t=a*d-b*c;A+=t;x+=t*(a+c);y+=t*(b+d)
k=1/(3*A);print x*k,y*k

Try it online

Ungolfed:

def centroid(P):
    A=x=y=0
    n=len(P)
    for i in range(n):
        m=-~i%n
        x0=P[i][0];y0=P[i][1]
        x1=P[m][0];y1=P[m][1]
        t = x0*y1 - y0*x1
        A += t/2.
        x += t * (x0 + x1)
        y += t * (y0 + y1)
    k = 1/(6*A)
    x *= k
    y *= k
    return x,y

Answer 11

Actually, 45 40 39 bytes

This uses an algorithm similar to miles' Jelly answer. There is a shorter way to calculate determinants using a dot product, but there's currently a bug with Actually's dot product where it won't work with lists of floats. Golfing suggestions welcome. Try it online!

;\Z♂#;`i¥`M@`i│N@F*)F@N*-`M;Σ3*)♀*┬♂Σ♀/

Ungolfing

         Implicit input pts.
;\       Duplicate pts, rotate right.
Z        Zip rot_pts and pts together.
♂#       Convert the iterables inside the zip to lists
         (currently necessary due to a bug with duplicate)
;        Duplicate the zip.
`...`M   Get the sum each pair of points in the zip.
  i        Flatten the pair to the stack.
  ¥        Pairwise add the two coordinate vectors.
@        Swap with the other zip.
`...`M   Get the determinants of the zip.
  i│       Flatten to stack and duplicate entire stack.
           Stack: [a,b], [c,d], [a,b], [c,d]
  N@F*)    Push b*c and move it to BOS.
  F@N*     Push a*d.
  -        Get a*d-b*c.
;Σ3*)    Push 3 * sum(determinants) and move it to BOS.
♀*       Vector multiply the determinants and the sums.
┬        Transpose the coordinate pairs in the vector.
♂Σ       Sum the x's, then the y's.
♀/       Divide the x and y of this last coordinate pair by 3*sum(determinants).
         Implicit return.

A shorter, non-competitive version

This is another 24-byte version that uses complex numbers. It's non-competitive because it relies on bug fixes that postdate this challenge. Try it online!

;\│¥)Z`iá*╫@X`M;Σ3*)♀*Σ/

Ungolfing

         Implicit input a list of complex numbers, pts.
;\       Duplicate pts, rotate right.
│        Duplicate stack. Stack: rot_pts, pts, rot_pts, pts.
¥)       Pairwise sum the two lists of points together and rotate to BOS.
Z        Zip rot_pts and pts together.
`...`M   Map the following function over the zipped points to get our determinants.
  i        Flatten the list of [a+b*i, c+d*i].
  á        Push the complex conjugate of a+bi, i.e. a-b*i.
  *        Multiply a-b*i by c+d*i, getting (a*c+b*d)+(a*d-b*c)*i.
           Our determinant is the imaginary part of this result.
  ╫@X      Push Re(z), Im(z) to the stack, and immediately discard Re(z).
           This map returns a list of these determinants.
;        Duplicate list_determinants.
Σ3*)     Push 3 * sum(list_determinants) and rotate that to BOS.
♀*Σ      Pairwise multiply the sums of pairs of points and the determinants and sum.
/        Divide that sum by 3*sum(list_determinants).
         Implicit return.

Answer 12

C++14, 241 bytes

struct P{float x;float y;};
#define S(N,T)auto N(P){return 0;}auto N(P a,P b,auto...V){return(T)*(a.x*b.y-b.x*a.y)+N(b,V...);}
S(A,1)S(X,a.x+b.x)S(Y,a.y+b.y)auto f(auto q,auto...p){auto a=A(q,p...,q)*3;return P{X(q,p...,q)/a,Y(q,p...,q)/a};}

Output is the helper struct P,

Ungolfed:

 //helper struct
struct P{float x;float y;};

//Area, Cx and Cy are quite similar
#define S(N,T)\  //N is the function name, T is the term in the sum
auto N(P){return 0;} \   //end of recursion for only 1 element
auto N(P a,P b,auto...V){ \ //extract the first two elements
  return (T)*(a.x*b.y-b.x*a.y) //compute with a and b
         + N(b,V...); \        //recursion without first element
}

//instantiate the 3 formulas
S(A,1)
S(X,a.x+b.x)
S(Y,a.y+b.y)


auto f(auto q,auto...p){
  auto a=A(q,p...,q)*3; //q,p...,q appends the first element to the end
  return P{X(q,p...,q)/a,Y(q,p...,q)/a};
}

Usage:

f(P{0.,0.}, P{1.,0.}, P{1.,1.}, P{0.,1.})
f(P{-15.21,0.8}, P{10.1,-0.3}, P{-0.07,23.55})

Answer 13

Clojure, 177 156 143 bytes

Update: Instead of a callback I'm using [a b c d 1] as a function and the argument is just a list of indexes to this vector. 1 is used as a sentinel value when calculating A.

Update 2: Not precalculating A at let, using (rest(cycle %)) to get input vectors offset by one.

#(let[F(fn[I](apply +(map(fn[[a b][c d]](*(apply +(map[a b c d 1]I))(-(* a d)(* c b))))%(rest(cycle %)))))](for[i[[0 2][1 3]]](/(F i)(F[4])3)))

Original version:

#(let[F(fn[L](apply +(map(fn[[a b][c d]](*(L[a b c d])(-(* a d)(* c b))))%(conj(subvec % 1)(% 0)))))A(*(F(fn[& l]1))3)](map F[(fn[v](/(+(v 0)(v 2))A))(fn[v](/(+(v 1)(v 3))A))]))

At less golfed stage:

(def f (fn[v](let[F (fn[l](apply +(map
                                    (fn[[a b][c d]](*(l a b c d)(-(* a d)(* c b))))
                                    v
                                    (conj(subvec v 1)(v 0)))))
                  A (* (F(fn[& l] 1)) 3)]
                [(F (fn[a b c d](/(+ a c)A)))
                 (F (fn[a b c d](/(+ b d)A)))])))

Creates a helper function F which implements the summation with any callback l. For A the callback returns constantly 1 whereas X and Y coordinates have their own functions. (conj(subvec v 1)(v 0)) drops the first element and appends to the end, this way it is easy to keep track of x_i and x_(i+1). Maybe there is still some repetition to be eliminated, especially at the last (map F[....