The Division of Fractions
Dividing whole and broken numbers, comparing fractions, and taking a fraction of a fraction
A dense arithmetic sheet devoted to dividing fractions by cross-multiplication, running through every combination of whole and broken numbers with fully worked examples such as 5 3/4 by 5/6 giving 6 9/10 and 6 1/7 by 3 2/9 giving 1 194/203. Further passages recover unknown terms by addition, subtraction and multiplication, compare which of two fractions is larger, and take a fraction of a fraction, with marginal cross-multiplication figures and a list of the nine kinds of division. The manuscript's scholarly tags indicate the sheet also carries untranscribed notes on inscribing many-sided polygons in a circle and on painting, that a figure's movements should express the concept of the mind, illustrated by the mute who understood words from the motion of the lips.
On this page
Dividing fractions by cross-multiplication, with worked cases
Leonardo lays out fraction division as cross-multiplication: 1/2 by 1/3 gives 1 1/2, proved by multiplying the result back by the divisor. He then works wholes by fractions, wholes-and-fractions by fractions (5 3/4 by 5/6 = 6 9/10) and by wholes-and-fractions (6 1/7 by 3 2/9 = 1 194/203), recovers unknown terms by addition, subtraction and multiplication, compares fractions such as 2/3 and 3/4, and takes 2/3 of 4/5 to get 8/15.
Marginal cross-multiplications
The left margin holds the paired figures that support the comparisons in the main text, among them 8 and 9 for 2/3, the excess 1/35 for 3/7, 31/66 for 4/11, and 8 over 15 for 2/3 against 4/5.
The nine kinds of division; why 1/2 divided by 1/3 is 1 1/2
A running note lists the nine combinations of dividing wholes and fractions, observing that a number grows the higher it rises above unity and shrinks the lower it sinks below it. It explains that dividing 1/2 by 1/3 gives 1 1/2 because a third goes once and a half into a half, just as, in 12, the third (4) goes once and a half into the half (6).
Which products of wholes and fractions can be whole
A closing note in the lower margin states which multiplications can yield a whole: fractions by fractions cannot, nor wholes-and-fractions by fractions or by wholes-and-fractions, while wholes by wholes-and-fractions and wholes by fractions can give wholes.
