When you think of domino, you probably imagine the game of dominoes or the chain reaction that occurs when one domino knocks over all the ones on either side of it. However, the word domino also has a scientific meaning. It can refer to a mathematical model that describes the forces that can cause a domino to fall over, or it can describe an experiment conducted by a University of British Columbia physicist in 1983 that shows how a domino can actually knock over objects about a quarter of its size.
A domino is a flat thumb-sized rectangular block of wood, ivory, bone, mother-of-pearl, or another material, bearing a pattern of dots or spots on one side and blank or identically patterned on the other. A domino has 28 such pieces, and each piece can be used in several ways in various games.
Domino is also a term for any of the many games played with such pieces, typically by matching the ends of adjacent tiles or placing them in lines and angular patterns. Some of the most popular are block and scoring games; others involve identifying a value for each domino, or even an entire line of them, by its number of dots or spots.
Depending on the game and the type of set, dominoes may be colored to identify players. The most common color for pips is white, but some sets use black or other colors. Also, some dominoes are made of different materials, such as stone (e.g., marble, granite or soapstone); other kinds of wood (e.g., hickory or oak); metals; or ceramic clay.
While the most common domino games feature matching tiles or a score-keeping system, there are other kinds of dominoes that can be arranged in creative ways to produce spectacular displays, such as the Rainbow Spiral, built by Lily Hevesh in 2017 using 12,000 dominoes. Creating these kinds of mind-boggling designs requires not only an understanding of the mechanics of how dominoes can be arranged but also an appreciation for how to manipulate them in order to achieve a desired effect.
Just as a domino chain depends on the correct placement of each tile, so too must a story’s scenes be properly spaced to ensure that they logically connect. For example, if the last scene in a chapter moves the hero closer to or farther from her goal, then the next scene must be placed so that it can logically begin unraveling the chain. Also, the pace of a story must be right. If a scene drags, or if it feels too fast or slow, readers will likely lose interest. This applies to every scene in a story, from its opening to its end, but it is especially critical at key emotional beats and plot points.