Suspended rods with notes on impetus and motion
Balance diagrams beside marginal laws of impetus, velocity, and natural vs. accidental motion
Three diagrams of horizontal rods hung from cords, with weights at their ends and numeric labels, are grouped with the note that S marks the centre of the weight. Around them, in the margins and free spaces, Leonardo writes short laws of motion: that impetus carries a moving body beyond its natural place, that every motion has a determined length set by the power that drives it, and that a body gaining velocity moves by natural motion while one losing velocity moves by accidental motion. A comparison of spaces states that g h is traversed seven times over in less time than the first space a b.
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Centre of the weight on suspended rods
Three balance schemes carry weights on cords at the ends of horizontal rods, with numeric labels recording the loads. The point S is identified as the centre of the weight.
Impetus carries a body beyond its natural place
Impetus, Leonardo writes, carries the moving body beyond its natural position. Every motion has a determined length according to the power that moves it, and on this a rule is founded.
Natural versus accidental motion
Every moving body that gains velocity in its motion is moved by its natural motion; conversely, when it loses velocity it moves by accidental motion. The space g h is said to be covered seven times over in less time than the first space a b.