Newtons Disc

A Newton disc, discovered by Isaac Newton, is a disc with segments in

rainbow colors. When the disc is rotated, the colors fade to white. The
colors painted on the wheel are the main colors of the white light, like those
that are present in the rainbow. When the wheel spins it creates a visual
effect (persistence of vision) that makes your brain believe that they mingle
and wheel appears white when in reality its multicolored.
This is due to the phenomenon called persistence of vision.
Persistence of vision refers to the optical illusion whereby multiple discrete
images blend into a single image in the human mind and believed to be the
explanation for motion perception in cinema and animated films
Benhams Top
The higher the speed, the more obvious the color effect and reversing the
wheel can also change the shade.
Theory 1
It is possible that the colors seen in spinning Benham disks are the result of
changes that occur in the retina and other parts of the visual system,
Theory 2
Another theory is that different types of cones take different times to
respond and that they stay activated for different amounts of time.
Therefore, when you spin the disk, the white color activates all three types
of cones, but then the black deactivates them. The activation/deactivation
sequence causes an imbalance because the different types of cones take
different times to respond and stay on for different times. This imbalance in
information going to the brain results in colors.