Dominoes are small rectangular blocks, usually 28 in number. They have one side that is blank or marked with a pattern of dots resembling those on dice. The other side contains pips, which identify the domino’s rank in a game of chance. When a domino is flipped over, it triggers a chain reaction that knocks over all the other dominoes on that row or column. Dominoes can be arranged in many ways to create interesting patterns. Many games can be played with them, and they also make attractive decorations.

A domino can also refer to a person who has a large and powerful influence. The word is derived from the Latin dominus, meaning “lord.” A leader with this name has a sense of authority and power. He or she appreciates the gravity of every action and always thinks two moves ahead. A person with this title is not afraid to stand up for the truth.

Domino has a long history of use as a game, but the word’s roots in the ancient blocking game suggest that it is also associated with cause and effect. If something happens, it will likely affect others and lead to more serious consequences.

Lily Hevesh first learned to play with dominoes at age 9. Her grandparents had a classic 28-piece set that she enjoyed lining up in straight or curved rows, then flicking the first one so that it would fall, one piece after another. By the time she was 20, Hevesh had mastered the art of domino creation and began posting videos of her work on YouTube. She has since become a professional domino artist and has created spectacular sets for movies, television shows, and events such as the album launch of singer Katy Perry.

Throughout the years, many different types of dominoes have been manufactured. Most commonly, they are made of polymer such as bakelite or phenolics. More recently, they have been made of a variety of other materials including wood (e.g., ebony or oak), ivory and bone; silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl or MOP) or a combination of these materials with a dark hardwood such as ebony. Some dominoes have a distinct European style, featuring the top half thickness in MOP or ivory and the bottom in a dark material such as ebony.

The physics of dominoes has been explored in many ways. For example, a University of British Columbia physicist demonstrated that dominoes can actually be used to push other objects one-and-a-half times their size when they are lined up properly. This is a remarkable feat considering that dominoes are only five millimeters tall and one-and-a-half millimeter thick.

The ability of dominoes to be pushed is also the basis for a science experiment called the domino effect, which is the phenomenon by which a single object can cause a chain reaction that leads to more than one object falling. Although scientists do not know exactly why this occurs, they have theorized that the domino effect is due to a combination of forces that act on each individual domino, such as air resistance and friction.