CD or DVD Spinning Top

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Create many spinning tops using old CD or DVD discs! The top and bottom parts twist together, locking the disc in place, ready to spin. For a science lesson, just print, cut and glue on the disc one of the many interesting pictures from the Lite Project web site at http://www.bu.edu/lite/Project_LITE_Spinning_Tops/LITE_Spinning_Tops.html You can see color mixing, strobe effects and more. You can also have the students investigate the rotation movement using smaller discs, or two discs one on top of the other. How can you make the top spin for a long time? Another amazing possibility is to use a fosforescent spray paint on the disc and play with a UV light or violet laser. The effects are really nice to see.