The Five Kinds of Motion; Weights Joined by a Cord
Up, down, level and oblique motions, and impetus shared between coupled moving weights
The page opens by naming the five varieties of local motion: upward, downward, in the site of equality (horizontal), oblique upward, and oblique downward. It then studies how the impetus of two moving bodies joined by a cord passes from one to the other, each in turn acting as the mover of the other. Leonardo argues that unequal coupled bodies yield a smaller total motion than equal ones, and that starting the motion from the greater of two weights produces a greater combined motion than starting from the smaller. A final block, breaking off, begins to treat two bodies joined with equal parts. Small sketches of paired weights linked by a line appear in the right margin.
On this page
The five kinds of local motion
Five are the varieties of local motion: the first upward, the second downward, the third in the site of equality, the fourth oblique upward, and the fifth oblique downward. The note then turns to how impetus of bodies joined by a cord is transmitted from one to the other.
Impetus transmitted between weights joined by a cord
Two moving bodies joined by a cord, each in turn making itself the mover of the other, drive the pair from their first mover by only a small space. When the two joined at opposite ends are unequal, the sum of their motion is less than if they were equal.
Which weight should begin the motion
When the greater of two weights joined by a cord is the first in motion, the motion of the two together is greater than if the beginning had come from the smaller body. The last, unfinished line begins to consider two bodies coupled with equal parts.