Domino is a black-and-white rectangular piece of plastic used to play games such as the classic game of dominoes. It’s also a popular way to build creative structures.
The word “domino” itself — and its related game — have only been around since the mid-1800s, but they’ve come a long way in that short time. They’ve even been turned into a fashion trend. The word itself combines two other terms: the Latin “domino” means cape, and in French, it denoted the garment worn by a priest over his surplice during a masquerade or carnival celebration.
Dominos are a fun and engaging way to teach math, strategy and pattern recognition. They’re also a great tool for helping kids develop motor skills. And they’re just plain fun to knock over! We’ve all seen those satisfying videos of a huge chain of dominoes falling over one by one. But did you know that dominoes are much more powerful than we realize? In a 1983 study, University of British Columbia physicist Lorne Whitehead showed that a single domino can knock over something more than one-and-a-half times its own size.
In order for a domino to fall, it must have some potential energy (which is stored by the pieces). When you nudge the first one, that energy converts into kinetic energy (the energy of motion). As the energy moves from the first domino to the next, it pushes that domino over too, and so on until all the dominoes are knocked over.
Hevesh, a domino artist who has over 2 million YouTube subscribers, creates mind-blowing domino setups that can take hours to complete. She explains that her process starts with thinking about the theme or purpose of an installation. She then brainstorms images or words that she might want to incorporate into the design. After that, she draws up a layout using a software program.
Having the right people in your organization is key to success. That’s why it’s important to listen to your employees and make changes when necessary. For Domino’s, that meant embracing a more casual dress code and implementing new leadership training programs. It also meant paying close attention to customer feedback and responding quickly when problems arose. By following these principles, Domino’s was able to turn around its poor reputation in the wake of the Ebola crisis.