Domino is a set of rectangular tiles that each have one or more squares marked with numbers on both sides. Known as “pips,” these numbers indicate the value of the tile in games that use domino. The largest domino sets contain 190 pieces. Dominoes are usually made from materials like bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory, or dark hardwoods such as ebony. They may also be painted or covered with a plastic coating to create a more colorful look.
The rules of domino vary, but typically players place a domino on the table in turn and then “kick” it over. A domino that hits another one or the floor starts a chain reaction that continues until the last domino falls. The player who scores the most points in a given number of rounds wins the game. In some games, a domino with doubles counts as one or two (if it has two 6-6’s, for example, it counts as 12) while a blank domino only counts as zero.
Invented in the 13th century, domino has become an extremely popular board game. It is played by individuals and in teams. Some people play for fun while others compete in domino shows, which are often held before live audiences of fans. The goal of these events is to build the most intricate domino effect or reaction possible before a crowd of viewers.
Hevesh is an artist who specializes in creating mind-blowing domino setups. She’s worked on projects involving hundreds of thousands of dominoes, and her largest installations can take several nail-biting minutes to fall. But how do she do it? Her explanation is simple: physics.
In her video, Hevesh says that the most important factor in a great domino effect is gravity. When a domino is knocked over, it loses some of its potential energy as it moves toward Earth’s surface. Some of this energy is converted to kinetic energy, which is then transmitted to the next domino that is struck. This energy is what makes a domino effect work.
Dominoes can be used to build incredible displays and sculptures, but they are also a useful tool for teaching basic principles of science and mathematics. For example, a domino can teach students about the laws of motion and the concept of momentum. It can even help students learn about the importance of accuracy in measurement.
Many different games can be played with dominoes, including blocking, scoring, and trick-taking. The most popular domino game, however, is probably Concentration, which can be played with any set of dominoes that have matching values on the ends of the dominoes (for instance, a double-six set would match well with a double-six or six-six domino). In this game, players try to match all of the dominoes in their hand to other dominoes on the board. If a player cannot match any of their dominoes, they “go out” and play passes to the opposing player.