Spin Some Colors
By: Jessica Vaughn and Tonya Estep
Materials needed: Paint (violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red), paintbrushes, sharp pencil, scissors, protractor, water for paint, white card stock
Step 1: Cut out a circle from the card stock. Use the protractor to mark seven sections. Make a hole in the center of the disk.
Step 2: Paint each of the seven sections a different color. Allow to dry.
Step 3: Place a pencil/Sharpie through the hole and spin the disk.
Why do the colors appear white?
When the plate is spinning, your eyes cannot separate each color and
identify it. In the whirl, all your eyes can see is white! Light
plays a big factor in how we view objects, especially color. When you
look at a moving object, the color you see distorts itself because of
how your brain registers what it is seeing. This science experiment
is just like a magic trick: now you see it, now you don’t!
For this experiment, we had to use black instead of indigo. The
experiment might have worked better if we had used the correct color.
Standards
GLE 0407.Inq.2 Select and use appropriate tools and simple equipment to conduct an investigation.
GLE 0407.Inq.3 Organize data into appropriate tables, graphs, drawings, or diagrams.
GLE 0407.10.2 Investigate how light travels and is influenced by different types of materials and surfaces.
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