# Are higher order derivatives relevant in pool?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-higher-order-derivatives-relevant-in-pool/744860>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [February 1, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-higher-order-derivatives-relevant-in-pool/744860 "2016-02-01T18:12:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\
**Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-higher-order-derivatives-relevant-in-pool/744860/1 "2016-02-01T18:12:28Z")

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Consider the break: what is the importance of position, velocity, acceleration, jerk, snap, crackle and pop.

Relatedly, why don’t pool players use MUCH heavier cues on the break?

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**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\
**Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-higher-order-derivatives-relevant-in-pool/744860/2 "2016-02-01T18:22:50Z")

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Reported for forum change.

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**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\
**Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-higher-order-derivatives-relevant-in-pool/744860/3 "2016-02-01T19:27:03Z")

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I believe they all from acceleration and upwards are only of interest insofar they would allow for a higher velocity?

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**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\
**Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-higher-order-derivatives-relevant-in-pool/744860/4 "2016-02-01T19:35:39Z")

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Acceleration would seem to be of importance in spin, but I haven’t played pool in years so I could be wrong. I can’t think of a use for higher than acceleration.

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**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\
**Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-higher-order-derivatives-relevant-in-pool/744860/5 "2016-02-01T20:30:20Z")

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This might be happier over in The Game Room.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-higher-order-derivatives-relevant-in-pool/744860/6 "2016-02-02T02:49:37Z")

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Derivatives higher than acceleration almost never have any relevance for anything. Too large of a jerk can be a bit disorienting for humans, and I suppose might be relevant for non-Newtonian fluids, but I’d be amazed to see anything for which the Rice Crispies would be relevant.

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**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2016, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-higher-order-derivatives-relevant-in-pool/744860/7 "2016-02-02T03:26:48Z")

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> [@alterego](#):
>
> Relatedly, why don’t pool players use MUCH heavier cues on the break?

They do use heavier and stiffer cues for breaking in games like 9-ball when you want the balls to really scatter. Often in straight pool you don’t wish to scatter the balls too much to avoid giving your opponent a chance to run the table. But even when you do want scatter, the cue can’t be too much heavier or it would cut down on how fast you could accelerate the cure to provide the desired momentum to the cue ball.