Five paired rods with stepped weight ratios
Successive splits of a load of 8, from 8 & 0 down to 4 & 4
Five diagrams of paired horizontal rods, each ruled into equal divisions and marked with a pair of weights that share a total load of 8. The values run 8 and 0, 6 2/5 and 1 3/5, 5 1/3 and 2 2/3, 4 4/7 and 3 3/7, and 4 and 4, tracing how the load redistributes as the point of support shifts toward the centre. The single word 'Sperimentata' (tested) at the head records that Leonardo verified the result.
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A load of 8 split five ways across paired rods
Each of the five stacked rod-pairs is loaded with two weights whose sum is 8: 8 and 0, 6 2/5 and 1 3/5, 5 1/3 and 2 2/3, 4 4/7 and 3 3/7, and finally 4 and 4. The series shows the share passing steadily from one end to an even balance.
Result marked 'tested'
A single word, 'Sperimentata' (tested), heads the page, recording that Leonardo checked these weight divisions experimentally rather than by calculation alone.