When a domino is tipped over, it sets off a chain reaction that can grow to be much larger than the original domino. The physics behind this phenomenon is a fascinating example of how tiny actions can create big effects. It’s a lesson that writers can apply to their fiction and nonfiction writing.
The first thing to notice is that a domino has inertia, which means it resists motion until a force pushes or pulls it. A domino resting on its edge can be tipped over with a small nudge, but it will require more force to tip it over again. It is in this balancing act that the domino effect takes place.
Domino art is a popular activity that involves creating a design with dominoes. The designs can be as simple or as complex as the artist wants. Some designs use straight lines, curved lines, grids that form pictures when they fall, stacked walls and even 3D structures like towers or pyramids. Some of these designs are made to show off the beauty of a particular type of domino, while others are meant to be challenging and require great concentration.
The most important piece of information for a domino artist is to understand the laws of gravity. It’s crucial to remember that a knocked over domino will crash into any other domino that’s close by, and that can cause those dominoes to tumble over in turn. This is why it’s crucial to plan out a domino design before starting the project.
A physicist at the University of Toronto named Stephen Morris demonstrated this effect in a video. He set up a series of 13 dominoes, each about one-and-a-half times larger than the previous one. The first domino was so tiny – just 5 millimeters tall and 1 millimeter thick – that it needed to be set up with a tweezer, while the last domino was over a meter tall and weighed 100 pounds. The first domino fell from just a slight push, and the final domino took more than two hours to fall.
Another important part of domino physics is the fact that each domino has a center of gravity. This is why it can be so dangerous to play with a large number of dominoes at once, because if just one falls off the table, the whole row will fall over. The dominoes need to be carefully balanced on the edge of the table to avoid this danger.
Other factors can influence how quickly a domino falls, but for most players the most exciting part is the chain reaction. The game of domino has many variants, and each one requires different strategies to win. A popular variation is a game called Draw, in which players take turns placing dominoes that are adjacent to each other and touching (unless they’re doubles). The player who cannot place a domino passes his turn and the next player begins. Eventually the game stops when all the players have run out of tiles to lay.