Squaring the ring: quadrature of circles and annuli
Proofs that a circular ring equals a rectilinear triangle, with a rule for roots after Euclid
A crowded geometrical sheet on the quadrature of circles and rings (anelli). Leonardo compares concentric circles where one is double or quadruple the other, shows that the excess of the greater equals the smaller, and argues that a ring can be 'squared in itself' by removing outer portions and restoring smaller inner ones until it equals a rectilinear triangle. In the right margin he adds a rule for constructing successive square roots, traced to a proposition of Euclid, and opens by promising problems drawn from 113 books.
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Excess of the greater circle equals the smaller
In two concentric circles, one double the other, Leonardo argues that the excess of the greater equals the whole of the smaller. The portion c cut from a quarter of the greater is worth the two portions a b from a quarter of the smaller, so the remainders n and m are equal.
Squaring a circular ring in itself
Under the heading 'Note well', he states that no square can equal a curvilinear surface unless that surface can be squared in itself by taking away and restoring its parts. He applies this to a large ring, squaring it by taking the half, removing 6 outer portions and replacing 6 smaller inner ones.
Ring equal to a rectilinear triangle
Invoking the axiom that equals taken from equals leave equals, Leonardo removes matching portions from a sector and from the ring g f h to prove the ring equal to the rectilinear triangle b c e. He notes the sector is the thirteenth part of the whole circle, and that the sector must always belong to the greater circle of the ring.
A rule for successive roots after Euclid
In the margin he gives a rule for roots: to find the root of one set a line of 2, for the root of 2 set 3, and so on to infinity by adding one each time. He derives it from a proposition of Euclid figured alongside, likening the proportion between circles to that between their circumscribing squares.
