Faculty of Mathematics brings elliptical pool table to UWaterloo

The University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Mathematics has unveiled an elliptical pool table on which students play a game called Loop. Unlike conventional pool, Loop players attempt to sink balls into a hole that sits in the centre of the table by banking them off of its curved edges, and the balls travel in an elliptical direction rather than at straight angles. UWaterloo Faculty of Mathematics Dean Stephen Watt told CBC that the table was designed by Alex Bellos, a math writer from the UK. “It's a lot harder than it looks because you have to bring all of your mathematical geometry into play,” said Watt. “It's the perfect game to install at the Faculty of Mathematics.” CBC