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A Pool Table, Irrational Numbers, and Integral Independence

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Book cover How Does One Cut a Triangle?

Abstract

A rectangular p × 2q pool table has pockets in every corner and in themiddle of each 2q-long side (see Figure 1.1). A ball is rolled from a corner pocket at a 45°. angle with respect to the side rails.

Find necessary and sufficient conditions on the real numbers p and q for the ball to eventually get into a pocket (angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection).

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Correspondence to Alexander Soifer .

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© 2009 Springer-Verlag New York

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Soifer, A. (2009). A Pool Table, Irrational Numbers, and Integral Independence. In: How Does One Cut a Triangle?. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-74652-4_1

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