Two Screw-and-Nut Devices and the Decay of Sound
Which screw lifts its weight of 10 more easily, and how a bell's note fades
Two screw-and-nut (vite e madrevite) mechanisms are drawn at the top, each raising a weight marked 10, lettered b a and d c. Leonardo asks which of the two moves with more difficulty. He then observes that a sound born of wind or a blow grows weaker as time and distance carry it farther from its cause: the note struck from a bell diminishes the more time passes, just as it does over long or near distance.
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Two screw jacks lifting weights of 10
Two screws with their nuts, lettered b a and d c, each raise a load marked 10. Leonardo asks which will move with more difficulty, a b or c d.
Sound weakens with time and distance
A sound born of wind or of a blow is weaker the farther it is from its cause in time or distance. The blow given to a bell diminishes the more time follows it, and distance, long or near, does the same.