What are the chances of having two identical snooker games?

Snooker is a chaotic game ever for the best players, so how likely is it that two identical games have been played?


Asked by: Len Rogers, London

Very slim indeed, because snooker involves so-called chaotic processes, in which just small changes produce radically different outcomes. Rough calculations show that if two snooker games are played with the first red ball struck to within a hair’s breadth of the exact same position, the games will be hugely different after around half a dozen shots.

Subscribe to BBC Focus magazine for fascinating new Q&As every month and follow @sciencefocusQA on Twitter for your daily dose of fun science facts.