1Two things to feel first
A point is tippy, and a fast spin is stubborn
You need just two ideas. Watch each one move:
A point is super tippy
Standing on a tiny point is like balancing a pencil on its tip. When it leans, downward gravity creates a turning effect about its tip, so the tiniest lean grows — and over it goes.
A fast spin is stubborn
Something spinning hard really doesn't want to change which way it leans. The faster it spins, the more it fights any push that tries to tilt it.
2One top, two ways
The frozen top vs the spun-up top
Not spinning at all
It's just a shape resting on a point. Gravity creates a turning effect, so when it leans even a little, it keeps leaning — and lies down flat.
Spinning fast
Exact same top, same point. The only difference is the spin. We're about to see what that spin actually does when something tries to tip it.
3Your turn — wind it up
Wind up a top held in a guide
The guide holds this top upright while you change its spin. Watch its marked surface turn faster. The guide has not released it, so this does not show what a nudge will do.
4Now try to knock it down
Same poke, two tops
Here are two tops side by side. The left one is frozen. The right one is spinning fast. A nudge button pokes both of them the exact same amount. First, guess what happens.
Guess before you find out
You poke the fast-spinning top with the same little nudge that flattens the frozen one. What does that poke do to the spinning top?