Domino is a type of gaming piece used for a variety of games. These pieces are flat thumb-sized rectangular blocks with either a blank face or one bearing from one to six dots (also called pips) in the most common variant of dominoes. The value of a domino is its rank or weight, which is determined by the number of pips it has.
Dominoes are normally twice as long as they are wide and can be stacked on top of each other. Their pips, which are usually painted in black or white, are arranged in two lines so that the values of the dominoes on either end match.
A domino is said to be “stitchable” if the matching ends of the exposed dominoes are touching. This allows a player to place the next domino, thereby creating a chain of dominoes that continues to increase in length. When all of the chains are finished, the winning player wins the game.
When a domino is tipped or played, its potential energy converts to kinetic energy, which causes it to fall over. This energy is then transmitted to the next domino, which also possesses kinetic energy and begins to tip or fall. This transfer of energy from one domino to the next is known as a domino effect, or more generally, any sequence of events that cascades in this way.
The term domino is sometimes used for other types of structures that are arranged such that they will fall in this way. Examples include a line of dominoes stretched across the floor or a wall, a grid that forms pictures when it falls, and 3D constructions like towers and pyramids.
While a domino is usually made of wood, some are made of plastic, ceramics, or other materials. These can be marked with different pips to distinguish them from wooden dominoes and make them easier to see, especially on dark surfaces.
Hevesh, who has created several mind-blowing domino installations, says that she uses a sort of engineering-design process when putting together her creations. First she considers the theme or purpose of the installation and brainstorms images or words that might help to convey this message. Then she creates test versions of each section of her work. She films these tests in slow motion so that she can make precise corrections.
Once her tests are complete, Hevesh starts assembling the sections of her installation. She always works from the largest 3-D sections to the smaller ones, which are then connected to the larger ones with lines of dominoes. This is because she wants to be sure that each part of her design will function properly before putting the whole thing up. This is similar to the way that a novelist might plot out a story, composing a rough draft before writing a more polished version. This way, she can be sure that the story will work as intended.
