Mathematical Modelling
A mass distribution can be modeled as a measure. This allows point masses, line masses, surface masses, as well as masses given by a volume density function. Alternatively the latter can be generalized to a distribution. For example, a point mass is represented by a delta function defined in 3-dimensional space. A surface mass on a surface given by the equation f(x,y,z) = 0 may be represented by a density distribution g(x,y,z) δ (f(x,y,z)), where is the mass per unit area.
The mathematical modelling can be done by potential theory, by numerical methods (e.g. a great number of mass points), or by theoretical equilibrium figures.
Read more about this topic: Mass Distribution
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