The Domino Effect
Whether it’s an epic car crash or a rocket launch, a domino effect describes a chain reaction that starts small and leads to much larger consequences. It’s also the name of a popular game that children can play by stacking dominoes on end in long lines, then nudging one domino over to cause it to topple the rest. For adults, Dominoes is a great way to practice skills such as spatial awareness and sequencing events. It’s also a great way to build teamwork, since the excitement of watching a line of dominoes fall can be mesmerizing for everyone involved.
A domino is a flat, thumb-sized rectangular block with a split face that’s either blank or bears from one to six pips or dots. A complete set of dominoes consists of 28 such pieces. The word domino is derived from the Latin dominus, oblique case of domini, meaning “lord,” which is the same root as the English word master. It’s also the name of several games played with such pieces, which can be arranged in straight or angular lines.
In his book “Domino Effect,” psychologist Dan Ariely describes a fascinating experiment that involves flipping dominoes with different numbers of sides so that the number on one side matches the number on the opposite side. This trick allows a researcher to measure the amount of energy required to knock over a domino. The more pips on a domino, the more energy is needed to move it.
When you push over a domino, much of its potential energy converts to kinetic energy, the energy of motion. This energy travels to the next domino, giving it the push it needs to knock it over, and so on. This process continues until all the dominoes have fallen, and each domino leaves behind a trail of debris as it falls.
Hevesh, a 20-year-old domino artist who has more than 2 million YouTube subscribers, creates mind-blowing domino setups that can involve hundreds of thousands of individual dominoes. Her largest installations take several nail-biting minutes to fall, but they do eventually tumble according to the laws of physics. To design such intricate displays, Hevesh follows a version of the engineering-design process. She considers the theme or purpose of the installation and brainstorms images or words she might want to use in the design.
She then creates a plan and sketches it on paper. After she’s satisfied with the sketch, she cuts out the shapes and colors of the dominoes. Finally, she arranges them in a 3D structure and test-fits them to make sure they’re secure before they’re moved to the final display.
The key to a good story is a smooth action. Like the ebb and flow of an ocean wave, every scene in your novel should contribute to the overall plot without hiccups or holes in logic. Then readers will enjoy the thrill of seeing each plot beat fall in place, one by one, until the big climax.
Whether it’s an epic car crash or a rocket launch, a domino effect describes a chain reaction that starts small and leads to much larger consequences. It’s also the name of a popular game that children can play by stacking dominoes on end in long lines, then nudging one domino over to cause it to topple the rest. For adults, Dominoes is a great way to practice skills such as spatial awareness and sequencing events. It’s also a great way to build teamwork, since the excitement of watching a line of dominoes fall can be mesmerizing for everyone involved. A domino is a flat, thumb-sized rectangular block with a split face that’s either blank or bears from one to six pips or dots. A complete set of dominoes consists of 28 such pieces. The word domino is derived from the Latin dominus, oblique case of domini, meaning “lord,” which is the same root as the English word master. It’s also the name of several games played with such pieces, which can be arranged in straight or angular lines. In his book “Domino Effect,” psychologist Dan Ariely describes a fascinating experiment that involves flipping dominoes with different numbers of sides so that the number on one side matches the number on the opposite side. This trick allows a researcher to measure the amount of energy required to knock over a domino. The more pips on a domino, the more energy is needed to move it. When you push over a domino, much of its potential energy converts to kinetic energy, the energy of motion. This energy travels to the next domino, giving it the push it needs to knock it over, and so on. This process continues until all the dominoes have fallen, and each domino leaves behind a trail of debris as it falls. Hevesh, a 20-year-old domino artist who has more than 2 million YouTube subscribers, creates mind-blowing domino setups that can involve hundreds of thousands of individual dominoes. Her largest installations take several nail-biting minutes to fall, but they do eventually tumble according to the laws of physics. To design such intricate displays, Hevesh follows a version of the engineering-design process. She considers the theme or purpose of the installation and brainstorms images or words she might want to use in the design. She then creates a plan and sketches it on paper. After she’s satisfied with the sketch, she cuts out the shapes and colors of the dominoes. Finally, she arranges them in a 3D structure and test-fits them to make sure they’re secure before they’re moved to the final display. The key to a good story is a smooth action. Like the ebb and flow of an ocean wave, every scene in your novel should contribute to the overall plot without hiccups or holes in logic. Then readers will enjoy the thrill of seeing each plot beat fall in place, one by one, until the big climax.