Dominoes are an amazingly versatile toy. They can be used to play a wide variety of games, from simple blocking and scoring to elaborate cascade constructions. In addition, dominoes can be used to explore math and science concepts, including physics and geometry.
The term “domino” is also used to refer to any game or activity that involves dominoes, especially those that involve constructing a chain of tiles that all fall when a single tile at the end of a line is knocked over. It can also refer to a person who has achieved great success in a particular endeavor or pursuit. For example, a businessman who has built a large company might be described as having a “domino effect.”
Dominoes consist of rectangular blocks, each of which has a square face with an arrangement of dots, or “pips,” on one side, and blank or identically patterned on the other side. Each pipped side has a value that ranges from six to zero, depending on the version of domino being played. Most dominoes are twice as long as they are wide, making them easy to stack and re-stack after use. They are normally made of wood or a hard material like ivory, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother-of-pearl), or ebony, and may be painted in different colors to distinguish various sets. Some of the more elaborate pieces have a metal pin, called a pivot or spinner, in the center.
In the most common game, players in turn place a domino edge to edge against another, making sure that the touching ends match (e.g., two dominoes with matching 2’s touch each other, or a pair of dominoes with matching 4’s). The exposed ends of the dominoes are then counted to determine who has won the hand. The winning player then adds to his score the total number of dots remaining on his opponents’ unplayed dominoes.
There are many other ways to use dominoes, including to create artistic works. A sculptor might shape clay into the shape of a domino, or paint or draw on it with markers to make it look real. Artists might use dominoes to construct a scene of some kind, or to illustrate a particular story.
When the first domino falls, most of its potential energy converts to kinetic energy, the energy of motion, and is transmitted to the next domino. This energy then provides the push needed to knock it over, and so on, until the entire domino chain has collapsed.
Writers who want to capture the domino effect in their work should be careful not to overdo it. A domino scene should be able to advance the story in some way, but should not be overly long (which can lose readers) or too short (which can leave them wondering what happened). Using too few dominoes can also weaken a scene’s impact. In addition, the timing of domino scenes is important; a domino should not be so close to another that it gets knocked over before it can take its effect.