Balances, wheel motion and hauling; with calculations
Dividing weights across balance arms; a wheel's uneven speeds; aligning a dragged load
Folio 227v opens with a rule for balances: divide the given weight by the proportion of the arms, then exchange the weights on those arms; below, upside down, is a block of numerical working ending with an instruction to subtract three whole units (three times 23) and divide by 23. Folio 228r carries two lettered figures with commentary: one shows that on a turning wheel point a travels much more than n, with a fastest and m slowest, and the other states that a mover dragging a long object cannot move it along a path equal to its own unless the central line of the pulled weight is aligned with the centre of the mover's force. The sheet also shows small drawn mechanisms including a screw or worm and a coiled spring.
On this page
Distributing a weight across unequal arms
The rule given is to divide the given weight by the proportions of the arms and then exchange those weights on the said arms, the standard reciprocal relation for balancing on a lever.
Numerical working in the lower half
Inverted in the lower half of the sheet is a block of figures (360, 100, 69, 911, 291, 233 and fractions such as 17/232) worked in columns. The concluding note directs one to subtract three whole units, that is three times 23, and to divide by its whole, which is 23.
Uneven speeds of points on a turning wheel
Keyed to a lettered figure, the note states that point a travels far more path than n as the wheel turns, since a equals the motion of the wheel while n is slow and m very slow, a being in the first degree and m in the last.
Aligning a dragged load with the pulling force
A mover that drags will never move a long object along a path equal to its own unless it first aligns it with its own path, so that the central line of the pulled weight is directed toward the centre of the force of the mover.
Screw and coiled-spring sketches
The right-hand leaf shows small mechanical sketches, among them a threaded screw or worm and a coiled spring, drawn alongside the lettered figures. These are untranscribed and carry no caption in the bundle.