Load shared among the cords suspending a horizontal rod
Rods hung from three and four cords, with a short account of meat, bread and a candle
The sheet works out how the weight of a suspended horizontal rod is distributed among the cords that hold it, stating that each cord bears the load of the two half-spaces lying between it and its neighbouring cords. A series of diagrams shows rods hung from three and four cords, each cord labelled with the fractional share of the weight it carries. At the top, written in red, stands a brief household account listing meat, bread and a candle with sums in soldi and denari.
On this page
Each cord bears the load of its neighbouring half-spaces
When two cords are fixed at the two ends of a rod and many others of equal length are tied at various points along it, Leonardo states that every cord takes up the load of both the half-spaces enclosed between it and the cords on either side. The diagrams then apply this rule to rods hung from three and from four cords.
Fractional shares of the load on each support
Each suspended rod is annotated with the fraction of the total weight borne by its cords, such as 1, 4 1/2, 7 and 3 1/2 for one arrangement, or 1 5/7, 1 1/7 and 2 for another, distinguishing 'the part' from 'the whole.' Two rods are finally reduced to a pair of summary lines of figures.
Household account: meat, bread and a candle
In red ink at the head of the sheet Leonardo notes a small expense: meat, bread and candle, with sums of 2 soldi 9 denari, 3 soldi 8 denari and 6 denari. It is an everyday memorandum jotted above the mechanical diagrams.