Billiard ball#Pool

File:US114945 - Patents for Injection Moulding by John Wesley Hyatt (Diagram 1).png's celluloid ball patent (1871)]]

Early balls were made of various materials, including wood and clay (the latter remaining in use well into the 20th century). Although affordable ox-bone balls were in common use in Europe, elephant ivory was favored since at least 1627 until the early 20th century;{{Shamos 1999}}{{rp|17}} the earliest known written reference to ivory billiard balls is in the 1588 inventory of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk.{{cite book |title=The History of Snooker and Billiards |last=Everton |first=Clive |author-link=Clive Everton |location=Haywards Heath, England |publisher=Partridge Press |page=8 |date=1986 |isbn=1-85225-013-5 |quote=11 balls of {{sic|hide=y|yvery}} }} This is a revised version of The Story of Billiards and Snooker, 1979. Dyed and numbered balls appeared around the early 1770s.{{rp|17}} By the mid-19th century, elephants were being slaughtered for their ivory at an alarming rate, just to keep up with the demand for high-end billiard balls – no more than eight balls could be made from a single elephant's tusks.{{citation needed|date=February 2010|reason=When sourced, this should probably be added to the article on elephants.}} The billiard industry realized that the supply of elephants (their primary source of ivory) was endangered, as well as dangerous to obtain (the latter an issue of notable public concern at the turn of the 19th century).{{rp|17}} Inventors were challenged to come up with an alternative material that could be manufactured, with a US$10,000 (worth approximately ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|10000|1869|r=1}}}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}}{{Inflation/fn|US}}) prize being offered by a New York supplier.{{rp|17}}

Although not the first artificial substance to be used for the balls (e.g. Sorel cement, invented in 1867, was marketed as an artificial ivory), John Wesley Hyatt patented an "ivory imitation" composite made of nitrocellulose, camphor, and ground cattle bone on May 4, 1869 (US patent 89582, the first US billiard ball patent). The material was a success, and was sold as Bonzoline, Crystalate, Ivorylene until the 1960s, and was used by prominent professional players such as John Roberts Jr (1847–1919), Charles Dawson (1866–1921), and Walter Lindrum (1898–1960). The ivory substitute was one of the most significant early reinforced plastics; induced the global growth of billiards, pool, and snooker; and helped create a modern idea that the artificial can surpass the natural.{{Cite journal |last1=Neves |first1=Artur |last2=Friedel |first2=Robert |last3=Melo |first3=Maria J. |last4=Callapez |first4=Maria Elvira |last5=Vicenzi |first5=Edward P. |last6=Lam |first6=Thomas |date=1 November 2023 |title=Best billiard ball in the 19th century: Composite materials made of celluloid and bone as substitutes for ivory |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad360 |journal=PNAS Nexus |volume=2 |issue=11 |doi=10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad360 |issn=2752-6542 |pmc=10651075}}{{Cite web |last=Neves |first=Artur |title=First successful substitutes for ivory billiard balls were made with celluloid reinforced with ground cattle bone |url=https://phys.org/news/2023-11-successful-substitutes-ivory-billiard-balls.html |access-date=27 November 2023 |website=Phys.org}} It is unclear if the cash prize was ever awarded, and there is no evidence suggesting he did in fact win it.{{rp|17}}{{cite web |url=http://www.plastiquarian.com/hyatt.htm |title=Hyatt |date=2002 |work=Plastiquarian.com |location=London |publisher=Plastics Historical Society |access-date=26 February 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221114457/http://www.plastiquarian.com/hyatt.htm |archive-date=21 December 2007}}

However, Hyatt's composite had problems. One of the most relevant is cellulose nitrate flammability, not because of making the billiard balls explode, as is often claimed, but because of the dangers of handling it in its pure form during manufacturing. Another problem was related to camphor mass exploitation, leading to the devastation of Taiwan's forests and displacement of indigenous communities.{{Cite journal |last=Altman |first=Rebecca |date=2 July 2021 |title=The myth of historical bio-based plastics |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abj1003 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=373 |issue=6550 |pages=47–49 |doi=10.1126/science.abj1003 |issn=0036-8075}} Subsequently, the industry experimented with various other synthetic materials for billiard balls such as Bakelite, acrylic, and other plastic compounds.

The exacting requirements of the billiard ball are met today with balls cast from plastic materials that are strongly resistant to cracking and chipping. Currently Saluc, under the brand name Aramith and other private labels, manufactures phenolic resin balls.{{cite web |url=http://www.saluc.com/html/billiard/index.php |title=Aramith |access-date=2 May 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130818090427/http://www.saluc.com/html/billiard/index.php |archive-date=18 August 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.brunswickbilliards.com/our_rich_history/billiard_balls/index.html |title=History |work=brunswickbilliards.com |access-date=9 February 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140327190020/http://www.brunswickbilliards.com/our_rich_history/billiard_balls/index.html |archive-date=27 March 2014}} Other plastics and resins such as polyester (similar to those used for bowling balls) and clear acrylic are also used.

Ivory balls remained in use in artistic billiards competition until the late 20th century.{{rp|17}}

File:Carom billiards balls.jpg needs an additional object ball.]]

In the realm of carom billiards games, three balls are used to play most games on pocketless billiards tables. Carom balls are not numbered, and are 61–61.5 mm (approximately {{frac|2|13|32}} in) in diameter, and a weight ranging between {{convert|205|and|220|g}} with a typical weight of {{convert|7.5|oz|g|order=flip|abbr=on}}.{{cite web |url= https://files.umb-carom.org/Public/Rules/Carom_Rules.pdf |title=World Rules of Carom Billiard |at=Chapter II ("Equipment"), Article 12 ("Balls, Chalk"), Section 2 |work=UMB.org |publisher=Union Mondiale de Billard |location=Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium |date=1 January 1989 |access-date=27 November 2023}} Officially but somewhat poorly translated version, from the French original. They are typically colored as follows:

• White: {{Cuegloss|cue ball}} for the first player
• Yellow: cue ball for the second player (historically this was white with a distinguishing spot)
• Red: the {{Cuegloss|object ball}} (four-ball uses an extra object ball, usually blue).

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{{anchor|American-style pool}}

Pool balls are used to play various pool games, such as eight-ball, nine-ball, and straight pool. These balls, the most widely used throughout the world, are smaller than carom billiards balls, and larger than those for snooker. According to World Pool-Billiard Association equipment specifications, the weight may be from {{cvt|5+1/2|to(-)|6.0|oz|g}} with a diameter of {{cvt|2+1/4|in|mm}}, plus or minus {{cvt|0.005|in|mm|3}}.{{cite web |url= https://wpapool.com/equipment-specifications/ |title=Recommended Equipment Specifications |work=WPAPool.com |publisher=World Pool-Billiard Association |date=November 2001 |access-date=7 October 2021}}{{cite book |date=2004 |title=Billiards: The Official Rules and Records Book |publisher=Billiard Congress of America |location=Colorado Springs |page=5 |isbn=978-1-878493-14-9 |author=BCA Rules Committee}}

File:8ballrack.jpg

The balls are numbered and colored as in the table show here. Balls 1 through 7 are the {{Cuegloss|suit}} of {{Cuegloss|solids}} and 9 through 15 are the {{Cuegloss|stripes}}. The 8 ball is not considered part of either suit. Striped balls were introduced around 1889.{{rp|246}}

Rotation games do not distinguish between solids and stripes, but rather use the numbering on the balls to determine which {{Cuegloss|object ball}} must be pocketed. In other games such as straight pool neither type of marking is of any consequence.

Some balls used in televised pool games are colored differently in order to make them more distinguishable on television monitors. Most commonly, the dark purple used on the 4 and 12 balls is replaced by pink to make it easier to distinguish the 4 from the black 8 ball, and similarly the 7 and 15 balls use a lighter brown color instead of a deep maroon. Other, less common color substitutions are also found, dependent on manufacturer. These sets often have a cue ball with multiple spots on its surface so that {{Cuegloss|spin}} placed on it is evident to viewers.

Coin-operated pool tables, such as those found at bowling alleys, arcades, or bars/pubs, may use a slightly different-sized cue ball, so that the cue ball can be separated from object balls by the table's ball return mechanism and delivered into its own ball return. Such different sized cue balls are considered less than ideal because they change the dynamics of the equipment. Other tables use a system where a magnet pulls a cue ball with a thin layer of metal embedded inside away from the object ball collection chamber and into the cue ball return, allowing the cue ball to more closely match the object balls in size and weight. More recently, optical systems that recognize the cue ball, which is more translucent than the other balls due to its solid white color, and separate it mechanically have been developed.

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{{anchor|Blackball pool|reason=Old section name, may have incoming links.}}

In British-style eight-ball pool and its blackball variant, fifteen object balls are used, but fall into two unnumbered {{Cuegloss|group}}s, the {{Cuegloss|red ball|reds}} (or less commonly {{Cuegloss|blue ball|blues}}) and {{Cuegloss|yellow ball|yellows}}, with a white cue ball, and black 8 ball.

File:British Style Pool Balls.jpg

Aside from the 8, shots are not {{Cuegloss|call-shot|called}} since there is no reliable way to identify particular balls to be pocketed. Because they are unnumbered, they are wholly unsuited to certain pool games, such as nine-ball, in which ball order is important. They are typically smaller than the American-style balls; the most common object ball diameters are {{cvt|2|in|mm|0}} and {{cvt|2+1/16|in|mm|0}}.{{cite web |url= https://www.wepf.org/adm_byelaws.php |title=Section 5: Table and Equipment Specification |work=WEPF.org |publisher=World Eight-ball Pool Federation |access-date=18 January 2022}} The yellow-and-red sets are sometimes referred to as "casino sets" as they were developed to make identification of suits easier for spectators at eight-ball championships often held in casinos.{{rp|45}} Such sets were sold by the Brunswick–Balke–Collender Co. as early as 1908.{{rp|24}} Similar to standard pool balls, there are also special sets designed for televised games; these sets have a black-striped 8 ball, and a spotted cue ball.

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Ball sets for snooker consist of twenty-two balls in total, arranged as a rack of 15 unmarked red balls, six {{Cuegloss|colour ball}}s placed at various predetermined spots on the table, and a white cue ball. The colour balls are sometimes numbered with their point values in the style of pool balls for the home market.

File:Set of Snookerballs.png

Snooker balls are standardized at {{cvt|52.5|mm|in|frac=16|2}} in diameter within a tolerance of plus or minus {{cvt|0.05|mm|in|3}}. No standard weight is defined, but all balls in the set must be the same weight within a tolerance of {{cvt|3|g|oz|2}}.{{cite web |url= http://www.worldsnooker.com/equipment.htm |title=Equipment |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080801105033/http://www.worldsnooker.com/equipment.htm |archive-date=1 August 2008 |work=WorldSnooker.com |publisher=World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association |access-date=28 January 2007 |location=London}} Snooker sets are also available with considerably smaller-than-regulation balls (and even with ten instead of fifteen reds) for play on smaller tables (down to half-size), and are sanctioned for use in some amateur leagues. Sets for American snooker are typically {{cvt|2+1/8|in|mm|1}}, with numbered colour balls.

The set of eight colours used for snooker balls (including white) are thought to be derived from croquet, which uses the same set of colors. Snooker was invented in 1884 by British Army officers stationed in India. Croquet reached its peak popularity at the same time, particularly among people in the same social context. There are many other similarities between croquet and snooker, which when taken together, suggest that the derivation of the latter owes much to the existence of the former.{{cite web |title=An Introduction to Croquet: A Brief History |url= https://www.croquet.org.uk/?p=games/CroquetIntro#history |publisher=Croquet Association |work=Croquet.org.uk |access-date=13 May 2017}}

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Various other games have their own variants of billiard balls. English billiards uses the same number of balls as carom billiards, but the same size as snooker balls, as the game is played on the same size table as snooker. Each player uses a separate cue ball, with modern English billiards sets using one white ball with red spots and the other being yellow with red spots.

Russian pyramid uses a set of fifteen numbered white balls and a red or yellow cue ball that are even larger than carom billiards balls at {{convert|68|mm|in|frac=16}}. Kaisa has the same pocket and ball dimensions but uses only five balls: one yellow, two red and two white cue balls, one for each player.{{cite web |url= https://cuesup.com/russian-pyramid-pool-a-game-bearing-more-games/ |title=Russian Billiards |work=CuesUp.com |author= |date=2016 |access-date=28 December 2016}}

Bumper pool requires four white and four red object balls, and two special balls, one red with a white spot and the other white with red spot; all are usually {{convert|2+1/8|in|mm}} in diameter. Bar billiards uses six or seven white balls (depending on regional variations) and one red ball {{cvt|1+7/8|in|mm|0}} in diameter.

File:Novelty billiard balls.jpg

There is a market for specialty cue balls and even entire ball sets, featuring sports team logos, cartoon characters, animal pelt patterns, or other non-standard decorations.

Entrepreneurial inventors also supply a variety of novelty billiard games with unique rules and balls, some with playing card markings, others with stars and stripes, and yet others in sets of more than thirty balls in several suits. Marbled-looking and glittery materials are also popular for home tables. There are even blacklight sets for playing in near-dark. There are also practical joke cue and 8 balls, with off-center weights in them that make their paths curve and wobble. Miniature sets in various sizes (typically {{frac||2|3}} or {{frac||1|2}} of normal size) are also commonly available, primarily intended for undersized toy tables. Even an egg-shaped ball has been patentedU.S. Patent No. 7,468,002 and marketed under such names as Bobble Ball and Tag Ball.

File:8 ball face.jpg]]

File:USS Sam Rayburn (SSBN-635) missile hatches.jpg {{USS|Sam Rayburn|SSBN-635|6}} displays a billiard motif on her missile hatches]]

The 8 ball is frequently used in Western, especially American, culture as an element of T-shirt designs, album covers and names, tattoos, household goods like paperweights and cigarette lighters, belt buckles, etc. A classic toy is the Magic 8 Ball "oracle".

The term "8-ball" is also slang both for {{convert|1/8|oz|g}} of cocaine or crystal meth, and for a bottle of Olde English 800 malt liquor. It has also been used to refer to African-Americans, particularly those of darker skin tones, as in the films Show Boat and Full Metal Jacket. The expression "behind the eight [ball]" is used to indicate a dilemma from which it is difficult to extricate oneself. The term derives from the game kelly pool.{{cite book |last=Shamos |first=Michael Ian |author-link=Michael Ian Shamos |date=1993 |title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards |publisher=Lyons & Burford |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000sham/page/85 85, 128, and 168] |isbn=1-55821-219-1 |url= https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000sham/page/85 |via=Internet Archive}}{{cite journal |last=Jewett |first=Bob |date=February 2002 |title=8-Ball Rules: The many different versions of one of today's most common games |journal=Billiards Digest |pages=22–23}}{{cite web |first=Ralph |last=Hickok |date=2001 |url= http://www.hickoksports.com/history/billiard.shtml |title=Sports History: Pocket Billiards |work=HickokSports.com |archive-url= http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20020223060649/http://www.hickoksports.com/history/billiard.shtml |archive-date=23 February 2002 |access-date=22 February 2007}}{{cite web |publisher=Billiard Congress America |date=2019 |orig-date=2001 |url= https://bca-pool.com/page/39 |title=About the Industry: A Brief History of the Noble Game of Billiards |first=Mike |last=Shamos |author-link=Michael Ian Shamos |access-date=27 November 2007}}{{cite book |first1=Steve |last1=Mizerak |author1-link=Steve Mizerak |first2=Michael E. |last2=Panozzo |title=Steve Mizerak's Complete Book of Pool |publisher=Contemporary Books |location=Chicago |pages=127–128 |via=Internet Archive |date=1990 |isbn=0-8092-4255-9 |url= https://archive.org/details/stevemizerakscom00mize/page/127}}

Because the collisions between billiard balls are nearly elastic, and the balls roll on a surface that produces low rolling friction, their behavior is often used to illustrate Newton's laws of motion. Idealized, frictionless billiard balls are a staple of mathematical theorems and physics models, and figure in dynamical billiards, scattering theory, Lissajous knots, billiard ball computing, and reversible cellular automata, Polchinski's paradox, contact dynamics, collision detection, the illumination problem, atomic ultracooling, quantum mirages, and elsewhere in these fields.

"Billiard balls" or "pool balls" is the name given to balls used in stage magic tricks, especially the classic "multiplying billiard balls". Though derived from real billiard balls, today they are usually smaller, for easier manipulation and hiding, but not so small and light that they are difficult to juggle, as the magic and juggling disciplines have often overlapped since their successful combination by pioneers like Paul Vandy.

The phrase "as smooth as a billiard ball" is sometimes applied to describe a bald person, and the term "cue ball" is also slang for someone who sports a shaved head.

{{Reflist}}

• {{US patent|50359}}—Billiard ball {{circa|1865}}
• {{US patent|76765}}—Billiard ball {{circa|1868}}
• {{US patent|88634}}—Billiard ball {{circa|1869}}
• {{US patent|114945}}—Billiard ball {{circa|1871}}

{{Cue sports}}

Ball, billiard

Category:Balls