A Pipe Projecting Water, and Lines Drawn to a Circle
The head of water can be imagined infinite, so the jet from a pipe can reach infinite distance
A paragraph argues that one and the same pipe can throw water infinitely far, because the height of dammed-up water loaded above the outlet can be imagined without limit. The pipe b a can be of infinite height in the imagination, and at every degree of that height the pipe a c gains degrees of distance in its throw; a short drawn pipe carries the labels b - c and a - d. Above the pipe a circle holds a sheaf of half-lines drawn from an external point onto its circumference.
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A pipe that throws water to infinite distance
Leonardo reasons that a single pipe can project water an unlimited distance, since the height of water dammed up above its outlet can be imagined infinite. The pipe b a can be of unbounded height, and at each degree of height the pipe a c gains degrees of range in its throw.
Half-lines from an external point onto a circle
A captioned figure shows a sheaf of half-lines drawn from a point outside a circle onto points of its circumference. The construction sits in the upper right of the sheet.
