The Art of Domino

Domino is a game in which players build chains of dominoes by placing them on a surface and then pushing or pulling them so that the adjacent tiles fall over. Each tile has a number of spots, called pips, and a value that represents its rank in the game. The values range from one to six, but some may be blank or have no pips. Normally, each domino is twice as long as it is wide.

Dominoes are also known as bones, cards, men, or pieces and can be stacked in several ways. They can be placed so that their edges touch or they can be arranged in rows, columns, and diagonal lines. Some people even create complex structures using dominoes, such as towers and castles. Dominoes are available in a variety of styles and materials, including wood, clay, plastic, and metal. They are also commonly painted, although some people prefer unpainted dominoes that let the natural material shine through.

Hevesh follows a version of the engineering-design process when she creates her mind-blowing domino setups. She starts by considering the theme or purpose of an installation. She then brainstorms images or words that might fit with that theme. For example, if the installation is meant to be a tribute to a particular musician, she might think of the domino symbol for that artist. She might also consider a specific color or shape that would be appropriate to the piece.

The first domino set was a simple 28-piece game that included all the possible combinations of numbers on each end of two thrown dice. However, many different kinds of dominoes have been developed since then. Some of these games use a larger number of tiles and differ from traditional Chinese domino games in that they do not have any blank or double-end pieces.

In the early 1800s, the domino fad swept across Italy and Austria before arriving in Germany and southern France. At this point, the word domino first appeared in French. Its origin is unclear, but it may have been derived from the earlier sense of the word that referred to a long hooded garment worn by a priest over his surplice.

As a game with simple rules and large potential for variation, domino has inspired a number of scientific investigations. One such area is the study of how the physical properties of a domino affect its performance. This chapter focuses on the influence of uncertainties in data and models, and discusses two methods for treating them.

When a domino falls, much of its potential energy converts to kinetic energy, which causes the next domino to slip and fall. Some of this energy is transferred to the domino it hits, providing the push that knocks it over. This cycle continues until all the dominoes have fallen. As a result, the total force exerted on the first domino is less than that required to push any of its neighbors over.