Math Questions For Pool Players:
- Thread starter justnum
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boogieman
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that ping.
A little bit. If we're talking theoretically and on a solid, non clothed perfect surface, it's basically an infinitely small point.
How much surface area of a ball touches in a perfectly tight and frozen rack? This is a different answer as gravity isn't flattening the bottom.
Edit: in reality it will depend on the material of the pool ball and how perfectly flat the surface is. When you're setting on cloth the sphere is cradled by the cloth, and how much surface area entirely depends on the cloth and it's properties.
Here's a link.
How much surface area of a ball touches in a perfectly tight and frozen rack? This is a different answer as gravity isn't flattening the bottom.
Edit: in reality it will depend on the material of the pool ball and how perfectly flat the surface is. When you're setting on cloth the sphere is cradled by the cloth, and how much surface area entirely depends on the cloth and it's properties.
Here's a link.
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It varies with the quality of the balls.
It also varies greatly with speed....the contact area would be far greater for the head ball on a rotation rack at 25 MPH than for the balls sitting in a perfect rack. Balls have elasticity to some degree.
It also varies greatly with speed....the contact area would be far greater for the head ball on a rotation rack at 25 MPH than for the balls sitting in a perfect rack. Balls have elasticity to some degree.
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I would guess in the neighborhood of 1 / 10,000th, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was considerably less than that.
when what is flat?
Mind numbing question..............
Enough.
two much
A perfectly round polished hard pool ball on the hard slate has a contact point on the order of 2 dozen square microns.
A perfectly round polished hard pool ball on the hard slate covered by cloth has a contact point on the order of 1 square millimetre.
A perfectly round polished hard pool ball on the hard slate covered by cloth has a contact point on the order of 1 square millimetre.
I am not sure if this is possible or not, but its possible a curve would twist onto itself, but why?
I have heard about DrDave and his so called swerve theory.
I think it has to do with the amount of surface area contacting the cloth on the table.
I've done some experiments adjusting the frictional coefficient of the surface and here are some observations.
DrDave's sense of physics is broken. This stuff can happen. But why only left turns?
Is there some type of one dimensional parameter than translates into a two dimensional shift?
I have heard about DrDave and his so called swerve theory.
I think it has to do with the amount of surface area contacting the cloth on the table.
I've done some experiments adjusting the frictional coefficient of the surface and here are some observations.
DrDave's sense of physics is broken. This stuff can happen. But why only left turns?
Is there some type of one dimensional parameter than translates into a two dimensional shift?
Fixed that
I was hoping anyone that got access to the Physics 401 Lab or Engineering disciplines would know.
Computer simulations are pretty good and accessible now, however table mechanics are more rare than a physicist.
Imagine all the lost knowledge of table mechanics because its not a college major. Has anyone been documenting the current practices?
Ouch. Not a point. Almost impossible to model f(x). Really tough equation because most of the components of the equation that would determine the surface area of contact are likely exponential functions and not linear. A few of the variables that come to mind.
- The resilience of the material the ball is made of as it undergoes deformation. (Not linear function and depends on other variables.)
- The resilience of the material the slate is made of as it undergoes deformation. (Not linear function and would depend on many of the other variables.)
- The resilience of the cloth under the ball as it undergoes deformation. (Not linear function.)
- The mass of the ball.
- The diameter of the ball.
- The smoothness of the ball.
- The thickness of the slate under the ball. (The slates gravity acts upon the ball
- The mass of the materials between the ball and the center of the earth as the gravitation of the matter under the ball acts upon the ball. (Slate, cloth, wood, etc.)
- The deformation of the cloth under the balls weight (mass) as the cloth conforms to the shape of the ball. (Not a linear function AND depends on the other variables)
- The mass of the cloth under the ball. (Not a linear function as the area under the ball increases AND it depends on all the other variables.)
- The distance of the ball from the center of the planet earth. (Greater distance equals less earth gravity acting upon the ball)
- The distance of the ball from the sun, and the moon and any other sources of gravitation acting upon the ball. (many more exponential equations.)
- Is the ball in motion or at rest?
- How level is the slate?
Now if someone could invent a game that was affected by the gravity of the moon at the time of playing...
I suppose anything sea-based is. But that spoils the idea! A table game that behaved differently with different 'tides'...
Reminded me of this article .
The physical limit of trick shots in billiards
For anyone who has ever had their ass handed to them in a game of pool, take comfort knowing that in the end, physics beats everything. A physicist has calculated how many collisions it takes for billiards to be impossible without a supercomputer. It's less than you think!
gizmodo.com