How fast do cds spin in a cd player?

Question

And how many mph would that be?

Answer 1

Have you ever loaded a faulty CD into a high speed (30X or higher) CD-ROM player, heard it spin up to incredible speeds, rattling and whining, and thought to yourself: "this thing is going to explode"? When CDs came out they were heralded as the solution for the need for high storage-high speed information devices, transferring data at a whopping 150kb/s, but like all technologies, 1x CD players quickly became obsolete as the need for higher and higher transfer rates pushed for faster players, and, with them, higher rotational speeds. As we advance into the 21st century CD players are reaching the ultimate speed limit: we are getting to the point where the CD player simply can not spin the CD any faster or else the CD will literally fly apart.
On the interests of the advancement of high speed computing PowerLabs brings to you:
"THE ULTIMATE CD SPEED LIMIT!"

Answer 2

The speed of rotation varies depending on which part of the disc the laser's reading - it's slowest when the laser is reading the outer edge of the disc, and fastest when it's reading the inner edge.

For audio CDs played on a hi-fi CD player, I seem to remember the speed varies (I think!) between 800rpm at the inner edge, and 500rpm at the outer edge. The speed varies smoothly between 800 and 500rpm as the laser tracks across the disc surface. CDs are read from the inner edge out, unlike LPs.

Obviously, the speed is faster for CD drives on PCs (an old 4x drive would spin the disc at speeds four times faster than an audio CD played in a domestic CD player). 52x definitely doesn't refer to the rpm! If it did, it would take about a week to get the data off one CD!

Answer 3

You'd need an engineer to look at it to be certain, BUT! You could first try cleaning the disc, or try a different disc. If the problem persists, it may be the laser that needs cleaning (use a proprietary kit). If the player is a few years old, it could very well be that the laser itself is about worn out. Very occasionally it can be a problem with the data transfer buffer (a fast working short term memory store) and disconnecting from the mains for a couple of minutes sometimes works. I had a similar problem once that was due to nothing more than a build-up of dust and static electricity on the D-A (digital to analogue) processor board! a good blow out with compressed air solved the problem!! You could look and see if there's any dust inside, and possibly brush it away gently with a small paint brush. BEWARE - - Only gentle handling otherwise you could do more harm than good!! NEVER - - Power-up with the covers off, the laser can damage your eyes if you were to look into it. NEVER - - attempt to clean the laser by hand unless you know what you are doing. AND never try to clean it with a brush. REMEMBER - - These things aren't built to last like good old VCR's and cheaper "also brands" tend to have very short lives.

Answer 4

A laser reads a music CD from the inside to the outside (the opposite direction to the stylus on a vinyl record).

The speed varies from 250rpm on the inside, up to 500rpm on the outside. This applies to music CD players, which read at 1x speed. Just multiply the rpm by the speed of your drive to work out just how fast a CD in your PC's CD-ROM drive is spinning!!

Answer 5

40 times a second

Answer 6

52x refers to the number of revolutions per second.

Answer 7

5000 rpm, so you can work it out