The perpetual-motion wheel: finding where its weights come to rest
A wheel loaded with equal weights, and a rule for which one settles lowest
Leonardo returns to the wheel sought for continuous motion, drawing a circle spoked into radii with equal weights hung around its rim beneath a balance. He asks first for the centre of gravity of the whole sum of the weights. He then sets the problem of which weight will settle lowest and at what degree it stops, resolving it by testing the four sides of the circle and taking the trial that throws the greatest difference over the balance arms, weighing the load farthest from the pivot.
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Centre of gravity of the loaded wheel
Leonardo proposes to retest the wheel sought for continuous motion. With many weights attached at various places around it, he asks for the centre of the whole sum of the weight, the single point about which the loaded wheel balances.
Which weight settles lowest, by trial on four sides
A wheel on a pivot carries weights of equal heaviness at various places, and the question is which will rest lowest and at what degree it stops. The rule is to test the four sides of the circle with a balance and take the trial that throws the greatest difference over the arms, weighing the load farthest from the pivot; for finer results, make as many trials as there are weights.