[paultex]

Secant is rarely used now from what I understand but im not a trig guy....or calculus lol. But I like numbers and believe even word descriptors should be replaced with a numerical value that is more concise. Words like "usually" for instance, can be abused or miscontrued. Language is a maleable weapon, numbers are definitive and final to a conclusive extent.

[Vorpal Cue]

Originally Posted by paultex

Secant is rarely used now from what I understand but im not a trig guy....or calculus lol. But I like numbers and believe even word descriptors should be replaced with a numerical value that is more concise. Words like "usually" for instance, can be abused or miscontrued. Language is a maleable weapon, numbers are definitive and final to a conclusive extent.

I was surprised to see the secant defined the angle vs.separation ratio too. Now I'm scratching my head and looking at the cosecant. Maybe something's there, maybe not.

[bbb]

I wish I could understand your diagrams and description.....

[Vorpal Cue]

Originally Posted by bbb

I wish I could understand your diagrams and description.....

The top ball in the pix are the object ball. The bottom ball is the cue ball. The ball(s) between them are only to show the separation. Think of them as 'ghost ball(s)'. I guess I should have used dotted lines to show them but I'm not that artistic.

[Bob Jewett]

Originally Posted by bbb

I wish I could understand your diagrams and description.....

What he describes is dead simple geometry with a little trig thrown in so that you can get numbers out. If you are interested in learning geometry and trig, it's likely that your local school system offers adult education courses. While it is satisfying to understand that stuff so you can do accurate analyses of some parts of pool, it would mostly be an exercise in personal development and prevention of cerebral calcification.

To find the maximum you can cut the object ball for a close position, just find the line of the thinnest possible hit. The object ball can be driven at 90 degrees to that line, in theory.

In practice, with outside english, you can cut such a close ball more than 90 degrees.