This allows children who are confident with their tables to choose a more challenging speed, while allowing children who are just learning their tables or who need more thinking time to play at a much slower speed. 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.

According to World Pool-Billiard Association equipment specifications, the weight may be from 5 + 1⁄ 2 to 6. 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". The number, type, diameter, color, and pattern of the balls differ depending upon the specific game being played. Best billiard ball in the 19th century: Composite materials made of celluloid and bone as substitutes for ivory".Our honeycomb ball numbers all come with an extendable metal spring making it easy to attach to ceilings, window frames or door frames. Currently Saluc, under the brand name Aramith and other private labels, manufactures phenolic resin balls. 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 in May 4, 1869 (US patent 89582, the first US billiard ball patent). Such different sized cue balls are considered less than ideal because they change the dynamics of the equipment.

It is unclear if the cash prize was ever awarded, and there is no evidence suggesting he did in fact win it. Ball sets for snooker consist of twenty-two balls in total, arranged as a rack of 15 unmarked red balls, six colour balls placed at various predetermined spots on the table, and a white cue ball. 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. If the item comes direct from a manufacturer, it may be delivered in non-retail packaging, such as a plain or unprinted box or plastic bag.The colour balls are sometimes numbered with their point values in the style of pool balls for the home market. 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. Rotation games do not distinguish between solids and stripes, but rather use the numbering on the balls to determine which object ball must be pocketed. 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.