Force of Liquids and Grains in Two Vessels
Weight on a vessel's bottom versus its walls; accounts in lire and soldi
A physics problem in pen is written over earlier figures in red chalk and grey pencil. Leonardo wants to know how much force and weight the contents of two vessels — one holding water or another liquid, the other millet, sand or another 'discontinuous' (granular) substance — exert on all sides of the vessels, and specifically the difference between the load carried by the bottom and by the walls, even though all the weight ultimately bears on the bottom. Several columns of figures surround the text, some totalled in lire and soldi. Faint red-chalk studies underlie the page, and two small pen squares with diagonals and further mirror-written notes sit at the lower right.
On this page
Force of two vessels' contents on bottom and walls
Leonardo compares two vessels — one holding a liquid, the other a granular ('discontinuous') material such as millet or sand — asking how much force and weight the contents exert on every side, and what difference there is between the load received by the bottom and by the walls, though all the weight rests on the bottom.
Columns of figures in lire and soldi
Blocks of numbers are added and carried, with sums expressed as 'lire 16 soldi 16' and further entries in soldi — everyday reckoning worked in and around the physics note.