Modern researchers still don’t know enough notebooks the legendary Italian scientist.
A new study by scientists from the University of Cambridge showed that the records of Leonardo da Vinci, previously considered as “not relevant” contained the description of the laws of friction, which was officially opened only 200 years later.
The results of the analysis of the records of da Vinci was published in the journal Wear.
In a small book that belonged to Leonardo da Vinci, the researchers found that he was able to achieve a deeper understanding of the laws of friction 200 years before they were formalized. This knowledge he used to create his equipment and the development of projects in the next 20 years.
“The tests showed that Leonardo understood the basics of friction in 1493,” says Professor Ian Hutchings. “He knew that the friction force acting between the two sliding surfaces is proportional to the load and does not depend on the apparent area of contact between the surfaces. Today, the discovery of these laws of friction are owned by the French scientist Gelamu the Amontons, who discovered them 200 years after da Vinci.
Sketches and notes of Leonardo was based on his own experiments. He analyzed the interaction between wheels and axles, threads and pulleys in them designed machines and realized when friction can be useful and when, on the contrary, reduces the efficiency.
