Spinning Top

A top, or spinning top, is a children's toy that can be spun on an axis, balancing on a point. The top is one of the oldest recognizable toys found on archaeological sites. Besides toys, tops have also historically been used for gambling and prophecy. Some role-playing gamers still use tops to augment dice in generating randomized results. A thumbtack may also be made to spin on the same principles.

The action of a top relies on the gyroscopic effect for its operation. Typically the top will at first wobble until the shape of the tip and its interaction with the surface force it upright. After spinning upright for an extended period, the angular momentum, and therefore the gyroscopic effect, will gradually lessen, leading to ever increasing precession, finally causing the top to topple in a frequently violent last thrash.

The top is sometimes used to make a logical point. It is possible to say "the top is moving" without contradicting the statement that "the top is standing still." The two statements can each be true in that each refers to a different kind of motion -- "the top is rotating around its axis, but the axis remains at the same spot," would be a more complete statement of both points. In general, the law of non-contradiction must be stated to allow for ambiguous subject or predicates, and so for contradictions that are only apparent.

Types of top

Concertina top
Dreidel (also spelled dradel or dreidl)
Perinola
Dueling top
Bei-goma
Beyblade
Floating top [1]
Gaming top
Tippe top
Whipping top
Whistling top
trumpo

Dreidel

A dreidel is a four-sided top, played with in the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Each side of it is bearing a letter: נ (Nun), ג (Gimel), ה (He), ש (Shin), which stands as an acronym for "נס גדול היה שם" (Nes Gadol Haya Sham ? "a great miracle happened there"). In Israel, instead of ש (Shin), the letter פ (Pe) is written to symbolize the location of the miracle ? "פה" (Po ? "here").

Dreidel is also the name for a game played with a dreidel.

Perinola

A Perinola is a 6-sided top, very similar to the dreidel, that is used for a similar game in most Latin American countries. Perinola is also the name of a stick and ball game.

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