Definition and Diagram: Two Bodies Falling in Succession
How two equal weights released one after another move a degree farther apart each moment
In the outer column Leonardo draws a vertical diagram of lettered points (t, o, p; a, o, q; b, o, r; c, o, S; n, o, t; o, v) with rows of dots marking the successive degrees of motion of falling bodies. The accompanying definition states that if two bodies of equal weight and shape fall one after the other from a height, they move one degree farther apart at each degree of time. He works the example through: when q has made the motion pq, t has not yet moved; when t reaches a (one degree), q has reached r (two degrees); and when a descends to b with two degrees, r has descended to S with three. The page turns the descent of bodies into a stepwise, proportional scheme.
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Definition: two equal bodies falling one after the other
If two bodies of equal weight and shape fall one after the other from a height, then at each degree of time they move one degree farther apart. When q has made the motion pq, t has not yet moved; when t reaches a, q reaches r; and when a descends to b, r has descended to S.
Column diagram of the degrees of motion (t, o, p ... o, v)
The outer column arranges the lettered points t, o, p / a, o, q / b, o, r / c, o, S / n, o, t / o, v, with intervening dots marking successive equal degrees of descent. The rows encode the growing separation of the two falling weights as a stepwise proportional scheme.