Rebound of a struck stone; sketch of a mill and moving air
A note on reflected motion after percussion, beside faint mechanical drawings
Leonardo poses a question of impact physics: whether a stone or water, when struck by a moving body, follows the reflected (rebounding) path the striking body would itself have taken. A second, cancelled note records only 'indeterminate figures' drawn in pencil. The sheet also carries drawings of a mill or windmill with crossed sails and a cylindrical device set in a stream of curved lines, and further untranscribed notes fill the foot of the page.
On this page
Does a struck stone or water follow the reflected motion?
Leonardo frames a problem of percussion and rebound: he asks whether a stone, or water, when struck by an incident moving body, continues along the reflected motion in the same way the striking body itself would have travelled after the impact, or not.
Sketch of a mill with crossed sails and a cylindrical device
At upper left an X of crossed guide-lines frames a mill or windmill drawn in perspective with letter-marked parts, while to the right sits a short cylindrical drum-like device. These are the 'indeterminate figures' the pencil note mentions.
Curved lines suggesting a moving current
A fan of curved parallel lines streams to the right of the cylindrical device, reading as a current of air or water passing the mechanism. The gesture belongs to Leonardo's studies of moving fluids and air rather than to any labelled text on this leaf.