Where a Tethered Falling Ball Strikes Hardest
A problem on the blow and bounce of a ball tied to a cord
Leonardo poses a single mechanical problem about a ball tied to a cord: in falling, where would it deliver the greater blow — at the point where its cord is fixed, or at the spot below where it might strike — and where would it make the larger bounce? A small pen drawing at the upper right shows the ball and its cord in a pendulum-like arrangement. The rest of the sheet is otherwise blank.
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Blow and bounce of a ball on a cord
Leonardo asks where a ball tied to a cord, in falling, would give the greater blow — either at the attachment of its cord, or at the place below where it might strike — and where it would make the greater bounce. A pendulum-like sketch of the ball and cord accompanies the question.