Geometry of triangles, a balance, water swirls and a house plan
Four mounted fragments: figured geometry, a lever note, turbulent water and a labelled ground plan
Four fragments are mounted together on this recto. The large central sheet carries a tall column of numbered triangle-and-rectangle figures with the note that 'the parallelogram is equal to the greater triangle,' overlapping circles, and at right a circle-and-line diagram with a note comparing an upper power to a lower weight (a, n, m). A separate fragment shows swirling and waved water, another a labelled house plan (chambers, halls, a chapel, a courtyard), and a further one a cluster of tapering curved forms that carries no transcribed writing.
On this page
Triangles equated with parallelograms; numbered figures
A vertical column of small triangle-and-rectangle constructions is numbered in sequence and cross-referenced to propositions ('for 23', 'for 26'). Beside them the note states that 'the parallelogram is equal to the greater triangle,' a study equating triangular and quadrilateral areas. Overlapping circles and vesica figures accompany the constructions.
Upper power against a lower weight (a, n, m)
The note reasons that here a n is double m n and the upper power is half the lower weight, so that no movement occurs unless the line a n is more than double the line m n. Leonardo adds that it remains to see what experience requires. A circle-and-radial-line diagram at the right of the fragment illustrates the case.
Ground plan of a house with labelled rooms
A rectilinear ground plan is drawn with its rooms named: chambers (camera), halls (sala), a chapel (cappella) and a central courtyard (cortile). The labels ring a small central space, laying out the distribution of a dwelling. The plan occupies its own fragment.
Study of swirling and waved water
One fragment, which carries no writing, is filled with a study of moving water: tight curling turbulence above and a band of regular, rolling waves below. The drawing sets the coiling of a vortex against the ordered advance of surface waves. No text accompanies it in the transcription.