How come the white ball has a different exit in a pool table?

Question

when playing pool the white ball exits thru a different hole. How the pool table knows that it is the white ball and not a ball with another colour?

Answer 1

well, from what i hear, it's because the cue ball's bigger, passes the small slot and goes into the bigger one instead...i know there are alot of cue balls that have a metal core, and Johnny's answer is relevant to that part...but when I go out to play pool, I take my own cue balls (small ones) and when I or someone else scratches, it goes right in with the rest of the colored ones and gets stuck....just my input....ehhh...Dre O

Answer 2

Not to be lazy, but I'm just going to copy and paste my last answer to this question.

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Best Answer - Chosen By Voters

It depends on the brand of table. Dynamo tables have a slightly larger cue ball which allows it to pass over a hole into a different tunnel. Valley tables usually have a ball with an iron plug or iron filings mixed into it when it's made in order to catch a magnet. Both balls are slightly heavier than the other balls on the table. Diamond tables actually have a laser that sorts out the cue ball, so it's exactly like the other balls on the table. In some other countries, the cue ball is smaller so it falls into a different tunnel. M.D.-BCA Instructor/Referee.

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Cheers.

Answer 3

magnetic core that attracts to a magnet so it tracks different then the other balls

Answer 4

The cue ball is the same size as all the balls.  The cue ball is a little heavier. Rememeber that it has to be made more durable since it has to hit all the other balls , therefore it has to be heavier.  The way to find out is to weight a cue ball and a regular ball from the same box.

Answer 5

That my freind is because the white ball is lighter and therefore is channeled away down another channel and arrives at the opposite end. Not unless of course you are playing on a pay table ,hence onced all the colour balls and black are potted the white will remain in its own little section inside the table.                                no probs.!

Answer 6

Its slightly smaller.. they all follow the same path, that is the only one that will fit thru that specific hole.

Answer 7

well there are rules with pool

Answer 8

Unless the table is 30 years old they are the same size and weight has nothing to do with it

There is a metal core in the cue ball and a magnet in the track that deflects the cue into its own track to exit at the head of the table.

Thats why the cue balls are so funkie in bar boxes

                    Later Johnny

Answer 9

don't know

Answer 10

The cue ball is slightly larger than the rest, and passes over the slot where the others fall through.

Answer 11

Haha, I actually thought about copying and pasting Straight's last answer myself...Not sure that would've been ethical...but of course I would have cited my source :)

Answer 12

Either size or weight.

Answer 13

Both hazeltine4 & mickeyr813 are right.

The cueball is slightly different in size. Manufacturers also put its density into consirderation so that it weighs the same as the other balls.

A smaller ball may seem to weigh more as it is more denser.

Answer 14

Don't know. That was a good question. Lots of possible truths to choose from.

Answer 15

different weight.