A domino is a small rectangular wood or plastic block, typically marked with dots resembling those on dice. It is used for scoring games or as a set for blocking, stacking, and other types of play. It is also played for fun, or as a way to circumvent religious prohibitions against playing cards. In fiction, dominoes are often used as plot points to advance a theme or argument in the story. They can also serve as a visual prompt to help readers visualize the scene.
Hevesh Morris, known online as Hevesh5, first started creating amazing domino installations when she was 10. By the time she was 20, she had become a professional Domino Artist. She designs spectacular domino setups for TV shows, movies, and events, including an album launch for pop star Katy Perry. She has worked on projects involving up to 300,000 dominoes and has a YouTube channel with more than 2 million subscribers.
Dominos are a popular classroom activity, especially for young children. For example, students who are learning about their family can match pictures of each member of the household to a domino to reinforce that information. In an OT setting, dominoes with pictures can also be useful for teaching the names of people or places.
Each game of domino starts with a pile or stack of tiles called the “stock.” The number of tiles in the stock depends on the particular rules of the game. Generally, the players draw dominoes from the stock to determine their seats at the table and, if necessary, to break ties. A player may take a certain number of dominoes for his hand, or, depending on the rules of the game, “bye” them from the stock without drawing. The extra dominoes are returned to the stock and reshuffled before the next player draws his hand.
Once a domino is played, the rest of the line of play must follow the domino that has been placed. The line of play may be lengthwise or crosswise, depending on the rules of the game. Doubles are played lengthwise, unless they are spinners, and singles are played across the lines of play. In some games, part of the score is determined by counting the pips on the ends of the lines of play as the game progresses.
When no one is able to make another move, the game ends. Sometimes a domino can get stuck, and the first player must nudge it to free it. The domino then has “domino energy,” or the potential to push on the next domino until it falls. In fact, physicists have measured that the force of a domino knocking over another domino can be greater than the force of an earthquake. This is because a domino has more surface area to contact the next tile than does a solid object such as a person. This phenomenon is called the domino effect. A 1983 study by University of British Columbia physics professor Lorne Whitehead, published in the journal Nature, demonstrated this incredible force.