Quadrature of sectors, lunes and crowns; proportion of circles
Squaring curvilinear figures, with a note that two concentric circles as 100 to 99 differ by a hundredth
Across two columns Leonardo works to square curvilinear figures, cutting sectors, circular crowns and lunes into pieces that he 'lends' and 'renders' as squared surfaces, appealing to the third and fourth propositions of Book I of Euclid's Elements. The left column argues arithmetically about two concentric circles: if they stand as 100 to 99, the greater exceeds the lesser by one part in ninety-nine, a single unit. Numbered demonstrations (first through sixth) organise the constructions, and many small lettered diagrams of arcs, crowns and a shaded sector fill the sheet, together with a rectilinear quadrilateral.
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Squaring a sector by adding its two lunes (S, a c, f)
Here the parallelogram b exceeds the sector S by its two lunes a c, which are squarable by rule. Leonardo therefore adds to the sector S a further squared surface equal to the two lunes.
Redistributing hatched triangles to form a parallelogram (m v, h i)
With the parallelogram a b c d taken equal to the sector e f, the hatched triangles a f are left over; he divides f and adds one part at o and the other at n, then joins everything into the parallelogram m v, lending it the known squared piece. Finally he divides parallelogram v m by the circumference, as parallelogram h i shows.
Equalizing an unequal quadrilateral (Euclid I.3)
If a rectilinear quadrilateral has unequal opposite sides and one wishes to take from it and render a portion, it must first be made equal with the help of the third proposition of Book I, without diminishing its original quantity. Otherwise the operation would be impossible.
Lending and rendering curvilinear pieces (Euclid I.4)
The square o is 'lent' and rendered with two opposite curved sides and two opposite straight sides while keeping the same quantity, by the fourth proposition of Book I. Any portion added in one figure is taken away below, as shown at n m, so that n joined with m remakes the exact quantity required by the construction.
Two concentric circles in the ratio 100 to 99
If two concentric circles stand in hundredfold proportion, the excess of the one equals the ninety-ninth part of the other, illustrated with smaller numbers (double, triple, 3 to 4). Thus for circles of 100 and 99 the greater exceeds the lesser by one ninety-ninth of itself, a single unit, or equally by one hundredth of itself.
