The Dynamics of Falling Dominoes (UMAP)

As everyone knows, a row of dominoes, all standing on edge, will undergo a cascade when the first domino is tipped. Building on several previous studies of this phenomenon, this paper uses both video experiments and mathematical modeling to give a more complete explanation of domino cascades. The experiments reveal that the motion of a domino cascade is complex and can be modeled only for small to medium domino spacings. In this regime, an assumption about energy and angular momentum loss leads to a model that reproduces observed behavior. The model is compared to experiments to determine a key energy loss parameter.

Table of Contents:

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

MOTION OF ONE DOMINO

INTERACTION OF DOMINOES

WAVE SPEED

CONCLUSIONS

NOTE ADDED IN PROOF

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

REFERENCES

ABOUT THE AUTHORS