To calculate the center of mass of a polymer from atomic coordinates, the formula involves summing the positions of each atom multiplied by their respective masses, divided by the total mass. Users discussed how to apply this to a set of atomic coordinates, emphasizing the importance of ensuring accurate calculations for each coordinate. The radius of gyration (Rg) can be derived using the average position (R_avg) and the squared differences between each atomic position (R_i) and R_avg. A common mistake noted was miscalculating the z-coordinate of the center of mass. The final step involves summing the squared differences and applying the formula for Rg to obtain a single numerical result.