River flow in narrow channels; the strength of columns
Propositions on current speed versus width, with a study of doubled columns
The larger sub-leaf is filled with repeated propositions on flowing water: a river of equal depth runs faster where it is narrower, its speed increasing in proportion as the wider section exceeds the narrow one, closing with 'where it is narrow it is swift, and width gives slowness'. The other sub-leaf, written with the sheet inverted, calculates the strength of columns: doubling a column enlarges its diameter by about two fifths and raises its load-bearing capacity roughly from 5000 to 12000, with allowance for added height. The upper area also carries mechanical sketches of suspended rods and columns of arithmetic.
On this page
Narrow channels run faster
A river of equal depth gains as much extra speed in the narrower width as that narrow width goes into the wider one; the more one part is narrowed, the more swiftly it runs. The passage ends: where it is narrow it is swift, and width gives slowness.
Strength of a doubled column
Two columns each one braccio thick and six tall, joined together, increase their diameter by about two fifths; the doubled column is reckoned two fifths stronger, so that where one column bore 5000 the doubled one bears some 7000, and joined and enlarged it may bear about 12000, less the weight added by extra height.
Suspended rods and weights
A group of suspended rods in the upper area is annotated with numbers (4, 2 5, 2½, 1 2, and so on), a study of loads carried on hanging members.
Columns of calculation
Numbers and worked operations are set out near the diagrams (26, 17, 317, 175, 122 and others), the arithmetic supporting the proportional reasoning on the sheet.
