Inclined-Plane Experiments: Drawing a Wheel Up a Slope
Nested inclined planes in a quarter-circle and the load split by an angle
Three linked studies of the inclined plane. In the first, a right-triangle slope has a wheel drawn up it by a cord that runs over a pulley at the top vertex and is pulled by a hanging weight; the second nests four such inclined planes inside a quarter-circle so that all four cords converge on a single pulley and drawing weight, with the wheels' starting heights stepped along the rising arc and verticals drawn up from each. A final schematic reduces the problem to a wheel resting in an upward-opening angle whose sides are labeled a and b, where Leonardo asks how much more load falls on a than on b.
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A wheel drawn up an inclined plane by a hanging weight
A right triangle represents an inclined plane. A cord passing over a pulley near the triangle's upper vertex draws a wheel up the plane through the force of a weight attached to the other end of the cord.
Four inclined planes nested in a quarter-circle
Four inclined planes are superposed within the arc of a quarter circle, all four cords converging to the same pulley and drawing weight. The initial heights of the rising wheels correspond to the rising arc of the circle, and analytical lines rise vertically from each wheel to mark the perpendicular.
How much more load rests on a than on b?
A schematic view shows a wheel within an upwardly open angle whose two sides are labeled a and b, with analytical lines and the vertical indicated. Leonardo asks how much more is loaded onto a than onto b.