How supports of doubled length bend under one weight
Where a load settles between a short and a long bow, and how to make two arcs sag equally
Amid a page of curved bows loaded with hanging bell-weights, two problems in elastic deflection are posed. If two supports a and b are of equal thickness but one is double the length of the other, how much nearer will the weight n settle to a than to b? And if the weight f is tied at n on two supports c and d of doubled length, how much greater will the deflection (saetta) of arc c be than that of arc d — and where must the weight be tied for the two deflections to be equal?
On this page
Where a weight settles between a short and a long support
Two supports a and b are of equal thickness but one is twice as long as the other; the question is how much more the weight n will approach a than b.
Making two bows of unequal length sag equally
With the weight f tied at n on supports c and d of doubled length, Leonardo asks how much greater the deflection of arc c is than arc d, and then where n must be tied so that the deflections of the two arcs become equal.