Why a Narrow-Mouthed Vessel Sounds Lower
An acoustic question, with an editorial note of military-architecture sketches
Leonardo poses a question about sound: why does a sounding vessel with a smaller mouth give, when struck, a much graver and lower voice with its mouth narrowed than when it is wide? Only this single sentence is transcribed, yet the reproduction shows two full ruled blocks of mirror writing, so further text beyond the acoustic question is present but not given here. The edition also records drawings of military architecture on the folio, which are faint in this reproduction.
On this page
Pitch of a struck vessel and the width of its mouth
Leonardo asks why a sounding vessel with a smaller mouth produces, when struck, a much graver and lower note when its mouth is narrow than when it is wide. The note treats pitch as depending on the size of the vessel's opening.
Sketches of military architecture
The e-Leo edition records drawings of military architecture on this folio. No text accompanies them in the transcription, and they are faint in this reproduction, so their form cannot be described in detail.