Domino effect definition
Knocking over the first domino causes it to knock over the second domino, and so on. The image is that of a line of dominos lined up, standing on end. We will examine the meaning of the term domino effect, where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.ĭomino effect describes a situation in which one event triggers another similar event and then another, until there is a cascade of events that occur, all because of the first, precipitating event.
An idiom is a word, group of words or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is not easily deduced from its literal meaning. Domino Day – world record attempt for the highest number of toppling domino stones.Domino effect is an American idiom which has its roots in the Cold War.The domino effect is exploited in Rube Goldberg machines.
The energy used in this chain reaction is the potential energy of the dominoes due to them being in a meta-stable state when the first domino is toppled, the energy transferred by the fall is greater than the energy needed to knock over the following domino, and so on. The effect is the same regardless of the length of the chain. Upon pushing the first domino, the next domino in line will be knocked over, and so on, thus firing a linear chain in which each domino's fall is triggered by the domino immediately preceding it. The domino effect can easily be visualized by placing a row of dominoes upright, each separated by a small distance.