Reducing a Cylinder to a Square Slab
Stereometry: how much a cylinder shortens when reshaped into a square board of given width
A short problem in the measurement of solids: from a cylinder, make a square slab of a given width, and then determine how much the cylinder will shorten in its length. Two small figures at upper right — a square and a tall narrow rectangle showing the cylinder edge-on — accompany the note.
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Cylinder reshaped into a square slab
Leonardo sets the task of converting a cylinder into a square slab of a specified width, then asks by how much the cylinder's length must diminish so that the volume is preserved.