You are given a 100*50 snooker table (felt area) and two balls of diameter 1. One ball is placed in the center of the table and the other ball is randomly positioned. What is the probability that I will be able to shoot this second ball directly into the top left pocket without touching the central ball? (Assume pocket has radius 1)

(In reply to approximate solution by Mindrod)

Maybe I am missing something, but I thought you had a top and a bottom left corner.  If ball 1 is in the center, and no spin is allowed, then clearly it is impossible to shoot the second ball in the pocket if it is lying in between the top and the center.

I would think that the probability is less then 50%, but then again I may be missing something.

Posted by Hugo on 2006-02-11 13:46:50