Dominoes, which are sometimes called bones, cards or men, are flat rectangular pieces that can be stacked on end in long lines. The first domino in a line can be tipped, which sets off a chain reaction that causes all of the others to fall over. Very complex patterns can be made by stacking dominoes, and the resulting chains can even form 3D structures such as towers or pyramids. In some games, the winner is the person who has the most dominoes remaining at the end of the game.
The domino is normally twice as wide as it is tall, which makes it easier to re-stack after use. The two faces of a domino are marked with an arrangement of spots, or pips, like those used on the face of a die. Each of these pips can be assigned a value ranging from six to blank (indicated by a zero). The combined values of all the pips on a single domino are the rank or weight, which determines how quickly a domino will fall in a particular game.
Most domino games involve either blocking or scoring, with the aim of eliminating all your opponent’s tiles from the table. Some of these games are adaptations of card games, and were once popular in certain areas to circumvent religious proscriptions against playing cards. In the early 18th century, a new type of domino emerged in Europe, designed to represent all the possible combinations of two thrown dice. These sets did not have blank sides, and their pips were designated with different values from those on the standard American double-six set.
Besides being fun and educational, dominoes can also be a great way to spend time with friends and family. They can be played individually, in pairs or in groups of three or more. A game of domino can take from five to 90 minutes, depending on the number of players and the complexity of the rules.
When creating a domino layout, each player must think strategically about the placement of his or her tiles. The layout must be arranged so that all of the tiles are connected to each other by one side or the other, and any adjacent doubles must match in number. The layout must be completed before the player raps, or knocks, on the table and play passes to the other team.
Hevesh follows a version of the engineering-design process when planning her domino layouts, and starts by thinking about the theme or purpose for an installation. Next, she brainstorms images or words that can be represented by the dominoes. Finally, she creates a diagram and calculates how many dominoes are needed for her design.
Accidents involving domino effects have serious consequences, and many efforts have been made to assess the risk of such accidents and develop methods to prevent them. The existing advanced models for vulnerability assessment and prediction of domino effects are categorized into several categories, including threshold methods, distance-based methods and probit methods. Despite the wide range of available advanced models, there are some key factors that should be considered when choosing an appropriate model for a given situation.