Domino is a small rectangular block, typically of wood or plastic, that has a surface marked with dots resembling those on dice. It is used as a gaming object and as the basis for many games of chance or skill. In its earliest sense, domino also denoted a hooded cloak worn with a mask for carnival season or at masquerades.
Dominoes are normally twice as long as they are wide and are often separated by a line in the middle visually into two squares, called ends. Each end is marked with a value, ranging from six to blank, and each domino usually has an identity-bearing side and a matching blank or identically patterned opposite side. This arrangement is often referred to as the domino’s “rank” or “weight.”
One of the most common uses for dominoes is to play positional games in which the players try to place a piece end to end against another in such a way that its exposed ends either match or form some specified total. These games are generally played against other people and are popular among children and adults.
Some dominoes are specially designed for use in positional games and are printed with a unique structure to facilitate identification and matching. These pieces may have a grid of dots printed on both sides or they may have a ridge that divides them into two easily distinguishable squares, one with the number of spots (or “pips”) and the other blank.
Other dominoes are designed for use in games that require some element of strategy, such as Muggins, where the objective is to score points by laying down a line of dominoes in which the exposed ends of the first pair of pieces touch (one’s touching two’s and so on) and the resulting dots on the exposed ends must sum to a multiple of five. The first player to do so scores the points, and a running score is kept by the players.
When you have a large enough collection of dominoes, you can set them up in some very interesting ways. A 20-year-old woman named Hevesh, who goes by the online name Hevesh5, has amassed a huge following on her YouTube channel by posting videos of her elaborate domino setups. She has created enormous domino installations for movie productions and events, including a recent album launch by pop star Katy Perry.
Hevesh’s work is impressive, but it doesn’t have anything on the incredible domino setups of professional domino artist Sarah Morris, who has worked on projects involving up to 300,000 dominoes and holds the Guinness world record for the largest number of dominoes toppled in a circle. Watch a video of Morris’ work below. The physics of these massive domino arrangements is fascinating, and they demonstrate how tiny inputs can lead to dramatic outcomes. In the case of a domino, the high center of gravity of each massive piece means it only has to be slightly tipped before gravity takes over and pulls it forward with great force.