Massachusetts hanging from the northeast corner of the state. Half the weight of Massachusetts lies to the left of the vertical dashed blue line and half lies to the right of the line. (Otherwise, the state would tilt to a new position.) The center of mass must therefore be somewhere along this line.

Massachusetts hanging from Boston (the red dot). Once again, half the weight of the state lies to the left of the red line and half to the right. The center of mass must be at the intersection of the red and blue lines. The blue dot indicates the center of Mass.

Two plastic forks with their tines wedged together. The center of mass of the forks is located at the red dot.

Balancing forks on a toothpick.