Dominoes (commonly referred to as bones, men, or pieces) are a form of gaming device similar to playing cards and dice. Made up of small rectangular blocks that resemble playing cards but usually double their width – with either one square or two featuring number markings like those seen on dice – their value can be determined by how many dots appear at their ends.

Dominoes can be played with two or more players and come in various variations, typically featuring blocking and scoring games as its core focus, but can also serve as an educational tool. A standard set consists of 28 tiles marked either 1 or 0, giving 21 possible combinations of ends (marked 1 or 0 on either end), but more elaborate sets may feature extended ends with additional spots, increasing both combinations available as well as player usage.

For scoring games, the first person to set down all of his or her dominoes wins. Subsequent players then take turns placing one domino onto an already played one; when there are no more matching dominoes left in play, that turn passes onto another player.

A domino set should typically be placed on a flat surface such as a table or floor. When standing upright, each domino has potential energy that allows gravity to push it over. Once one domino falls over, its potential energy converts to kinetic energy which causes its neighbors in line to collapse too.

There are various games you can play with dominoes, and their physics are quite fascinating. According to Stephen Morris of University of Toronto’s Physics department, each domino is lifted by gravity and when it falls it converts most of its potential energy to kinetic energy – creating what is known as the domino effect! As one falls it lifts all subsequent dominoes creating a chain reaction known as “domino effect.”

The domino effect is a term commonly used in business where an initial success can have far-reaching positive repercussions for future endeavors. For instance, when one local soccer team defeats another it may increase attendance at future matches and encourage other teams to improve their play as a result of this initial victory. Computing-wise, domino effects refer to applications or software installed once that have the ability to spread throughout an organization without much additional effort required from staff or users.