Dominos, also known as bones, cards, men, or pieces, are small rectangular blocks with a number of spots or symbols on each side. They are normally twice as long as they are wide and can be stacked together to create a chain of dominoes. The amount of dots or symbols on a domino is called its value. A domino with more pips is more valuable than one with less.

Dominoes can be used for a variety of games. Some involve blocking an opponent’s play or scoring based on the total sum of all of the pips in a player’s remaining dominoes. Other games are a little more creative and involve placing tiles in such a way that they make a specific shape, or even a chain reaction. These games can be very challenging to master and help children learn math and motor skills.

Another use of domino is to create works of art. People have made straight lines, curved lines, grids that form pictures when they fall, and even 3D structures like towers and pyramids. Artists can also use domino to create intricate patterns on the floor or on a piece of paper.

For the most impressive domino creations, artists create what are known as domino shows. These are events where builders set up huge arrangements of dominoes in careful sequence. When the first domino is toppled, it knocks over all of the others, forming an elaborate pattern or even a story. The shows are often performed in front of an audience.

In order to do a domino show, the builder must place the dominoes so that they touch each other in exactly the right places. This is difficult to do when you are dealing with thousands of pieces. A special domino table is usually used, which has indentations on the surface to allow a player to precisely position the dominoes.

A very interesting study was done in 1983 by University of British Columbia physicist Lorne Whitehead. He proved that dominoes are far more powerful than we realize. In the experiment, he set up 13 dominoes. The first domino was only 5 millimeters tall and 1 millimeter thick, but it could still knock over objects more than a quarter of their size. It’s amazing how a domino can cause such a large impact with so little force.

In a business context, the word domino can refer to the effect of one small event on other, related events, or to a person’s influence on other people. For example, a person who ruins someone’s reputation may have the domino effect of causing that person to lose job opportunities or friends. The term can also be used to describe a company or organization that has lost its way and is struggling to survive. When this happens, the organization must focus on its core values and make changes in order to turn things around. One example of this is Domino’s, which turned around a crisis with employees by implementing new training programs and listening to employee feedback.