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Math In Billiards

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Basics

Billiards is a game in which balls are placed on a rectangular table, known as a billiard table. The white ball, known as the "cue ball", is hit with the end of the "cue" stick, causing it to collide with other balls and reflecting off the sides of the table. One can predict where the balls will go using the The Law of Reflection.

On a rectangular table, a well-seasoned player can return their balls to their original positions, repeat the shot, and obtain the same result. The geometry of the table; however, can greatly influence the result of the shot. Going from a rentangular table to a circle, elipse, or even some sort of polygon structure can introduce new elements to the game, even chaos or unpredictability. Such are Non-Rectangular Billiard Tables.

A collision is an interaction between two objects which have made contact with eachother. In billiards, the cue ball collides with one or more balls at the same time. A collision results in force being applied to the two colliding objects. These collisions are governed by Newton's third law of motion, or the Law of Momentum Conversation.



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