The Domino Effect
A domino is a flat, thumbsized, rectangular block bearing from one to six pips or dots on one side and blank or identically patterned on the other: 28 such pieces make a complete set. The word is also used to describe the games played with them, typically by arranging them in lines and curved patterns.
When a single domino is tipped over, it triggers the fall of the entire line. Depending on how they are arranged, the dominoes can form complex shapes, and even be made to move through a maze-like structure. This is the origin of the phrase domino effect, which describes a chain reaction of events that starts with a small change that causes many more changes, sometimes with dramatic or disastrous consequences.
Lily Hevesh began collecting dominoes when she was 9 years old, and by 14, had begun creating mind-blowing domino installations. Her YouTube channel has more than 2 million subscribers, and she’s worked on projects involving more than 300,000 dominoes. Before she knocks over her creations, Hevesh considers the forces that will affect how the dominoes fall.
She follows a version of the engineering-design process: She brainstorms ideas for a setup and considers what themes or images she might want to use. After that, she considers the materials she’ll need to build her design. Finally, she’ll create a diagram of how her dominoes will be laid out.
A key factor in how dominoes fall is friction. As falling dominoes slide against each other, and their bottoms slip against the surface they’re on, some of the potential energy in each domino is converted to kinetic energy, which provides the push needed to topple it. Then that energy travels to the next domino, and then to the next, until all of the dominoes are fallen.
Another way dominoes create their effects is through inertia, which is the tendency of objects to resist motion when no force is applied to them. Hevesh’s massive dominoes have so much inertia that it takes several nail-biting minutes for her to knock them over.
Domino’s pizza is famous for being delivered in 30 minutes or less, but its delivery system wasn’t always that fast. Back in 1979, Domino’s founder Tom Monaghan listened to customer feedback and realized that customers wanted their pizzas delivered to them rather than having to go to a store to pick it up. To meet this demand, Monaghan started sending drivers out to deliver pizzas. Eventually, this led to the development of a domino-shaped car that could drive down streets and through residential neighborhoods. Domino’s continues to improve its delivery system, with plans to introduce robotic and drone-based deliveries in the future. But its core values, including “Champion Our Customers,” remain central to its success.