Running water falling into stagnant water over a channel
Wave intersection at different speeds, and a masonry overfall where flow passes under dead water
Leonardo notes that where water moves little, semicolumnar waves intersect in straight lines; where swifter, they curve; and where velocity is unequal, their curvatures vary toward the end. The main diagram shows a sloped masonry channel or overfall carrying running water down and into a body of stagnant water. His text argues that water descending from p to K and rebounding at d passes beneath the dead water of m d without mixing with it or carrying any part away, since the whole width of the course is equal.
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Semicolumnar waves: straight, curved, or varied by velocity
Where the water is of little motion, the semicolumnar waves intersect in straight lines; where it is swifter, they curve; and where the velocity is unequal, their curvatures are varied toward the end.
Running water falling under dead water (p, K, d, m)
The water descending from p to K and rebounding at d passes under the dead water of m d without mixing with it or carrying any part away. It rebounds at d without leaving any part of itself at K, the whole width of that course being equal.
Masonry channel and overfall
The lower drawing depicts a built, masonry-lined channel with a sloped overfall carrying the running current down into the stagnant water beyond. It is the constructed course along which the p–K–d flow described in the text is analysed.