Columns of calculation and oxen dragging wheels of varied size
Arithmetical tables built on 7 and 22, with a traction test of wheels drawn by oxen.
Three sections of the torn sheet, read from different orientations, are filled with columns of arithmetical working built on the numbers 7 and 22 and their multiples, with fractions such as 1/7 and 25 1/7. Below them Leonardo draws an ox dragging wheels of various diameter and notes how many pairs of oxen each wheel takes to overcome, insisting that a wheel's centre stay at least as high as the yoke. A double wheel with two counterweights poses the question of which wheel, small or large, is easier to pull under equal weight. Casual sketches of small animals appear among the figures but are not transcribed.
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Columns of calculation on 7 and 22
Sections A, B and C carry dense columns of multiplications and fractions recurring on 7 and 22, with values such as 44, 66, 88, 132, 176, 300, 308 and fractions like 1/7 and 25 1/7. The sheet is read from three orientations to follow the separate blocks.
Oxen dragging wheels of various diameter
An ox is drawn dragging wheels labelled a, b, d, e. The note observes that a line rising from the right angle grows weaker the further it departs from its base, and that the wheels' centres should sit as high as the oxen's yoke; line e is overcome by 5 pairs of oxen, d by 4, e by 3, b by 2, and the last, a, by a single ox.
Which wheel is easier to pull under equal weight
A double wheel with two counterweights sets the test: prove which wheel is easier to pull with an equal weight, the smaller or the larger.