Domino is a board game that has been played since the 18th century. It is a classic of strategy and symmetry that requires quick observational skills and strategic planning.
It’s a great way to introduce kids to cause and effect, and it also teaches them how to work as a team. The game is known for its unique cascading effect, where knocking a tile down sets off a chain reaction.
The domino effect refers to the physical fall of dominoes, but it also applies to societal events and behaviors. When our soccer team wins the state championship, we create a domino effect of goodwill among other teams in the region.
When a student sees their own abilities pay off, they have a domino effect of intrinsic motivation and ownership. It leads to higher academic achievement and a better chance of succeeding in life.
One of the most important factors that affect a domino’s ability to fall is gravity. That’s why many of the most elaborate installations created by artist Emily Hevesh require several nail-biting minutes to drop.
Hevesh has worked on projects involving 300,000 dominoes and helped set a Guinness World Record for the most dominoes toppled in a circular arrangement: 76,017.
She also uses the laws of physics to make her creations look stunning when they’re knocked over. She says that the force of gravity pulls a domino down toward the ground, sending it crashing into the next domino and setting off a series of other cascades.
Another important factor is the inertia of dominoes. They have a natural tendency to resist motion when they aren’t moving, which means that when Hevesh places her tiles, thousands of them stand right where she placed them.
But once she presses down on one of her designs, the inertia of the dominoes is overcome. She says the kinetic energy stored in each of those dominoes is released as it falls.
That’s when it starts to move and slide against other dominoes and against the surface it’s standing on, creating friction. That friction generates heat and sound, as well as some of the energy that causes the dominoes to fall.
Hevesh explains that the energy released by the falling dominoes is not just kinetic, but thermal as well. That’s why when she sets up her large displays, she uses a temperature sensor to determine which dominoes are hot and which ones are cold.
She’s also careful to avoid causing any swaying or rocking motion. This is especially important for the curved parts of her displays, which are more likely to shift when the weight of the dominoes changes.
The domino effect has become a metaphor for how people can change their behavior by taking small steps at a time. This is a way to increase the effectiveness of change efforts and decrease the time it takes to see results.
In his video, Morris demonstrates the domino effect using a small group of people. He calls it the Domino Chain Reaction and describes it as “the ripple that follows an initial action.” It’s a powerful reminder of how a small change in one area can reverberate through the rest of a person’s habits, even when those changes aren’t immediately visible.