Domino is a game in which dominoes are laid edge to edge against each other and a small force can cause them all to fall. The physics behind the phenomenon is simple, but the effect can be mesmerizing to watch. Dominoes have also inspired people to create other kinds of structures using the same principles. Learning about this amazing game can help students understand how other things can impact each other.
Dominoes are pieces of rectangular or square cardboard that are printed with a series of dots, called pips, along one side. Each domino is normally twice as long as it is wide. This gives them a distinctive shape that makes them easier to stack and re-stack. Dominoes are used to play a variety of games, including blocking and scoring, as well as positional games where the positions of adjacent pieces are determined by their number of pips.
In many positional games, dominoes are arranged in rows, and the first player to reach the end of a row wins. A domino may have a value that specifies its rank, which is determined by the number of pips it has. It may also have a rank that specifies the number of adjacent dominoes it must be followed by to win.
Hevesh is a professional domino artist who has created mind-blowing domino setups for movies, TV shows, and events such as the album launch of pop star Katy Perry. Some of her largest setups can take several nail-biting minutes for all of the dominoes to fall. Hevesh uses a version of the engineering-design process when creating her domino setups, and she starts by considering the theme or purpose of the design she wants to create.
Dominoes have a lot of potential energy, which means that they have a tendency to resist motion when no outside force is pushing or pulling on them. When a domino is knocked over, this potential energy converts to kinetic energy, which gives it the push needed to break the chain reaction that causes the rest of the dominoes to fall. This happens because the force exerted by the first domino is multiplied by the number of dominoes that follow it (see Multiplying Potential Energy).
Aside from the physical properties of dominoes, they can also be used to explain some of the most important concepts in physics and mathematics. For example, a domino is the perfect model for explaining how momentum and velocity are related. It is also an excellent tool for illustrating how a domino can be pushed across a flat surface. In addition, the symmetry of dominoes and their reversible nature make them perfect tools for demonstrating the law of conservation of linear momentum. These laws are central to the understanding of a wide range of mechanical and electrical systems. They are also used in the field of information technology to describe system behavior and predict system performance. In addition, the reversible properties of dominoes allow them to be used to describe the reversibility of magnetic fields and the effects of current on magnetic materials.