Can playing scratched CDs damage the CD player?

Playing a scratched Cd cannot damage a player. The CD data (where the music is on the CD) and the player never actually come into contact with each other. A laser reads the data from the CD and turns that information into the music you hear. You could put it into your computer or your stereo without any problem.

It won't hurt the player. CD's are read by a laser. Nothing touches the cd in the reader. You can fix many scratches on cd's with chap stick. rub some lightly with a very soft clean cloth in a circle following the same path on the cd that you would if it was a record. Otherwise, many places like hastings etc can fix em.

get an mp3 player, probably usless advice. but you wont have any problems playing the CD in the computor or cd player but it will skip some of the music because of the scratches

Nutshell answer: You should be fine. Warped (not flat) or broken CDs may cause damage, but just a scratch shouldn’t hurt. A CD player works by having a low power laser reflect off of the surface of the CD. The player then reads (sees) the reflection and turns that into music. Scratches will cause the laser to not be able to be read correctly, and will cause your music to jump. But there is no physical contact, so no risk of damage to the player. (The laser is too low power to damage the inside of the unit.)

A scratched Cd can not harm a Cd player, because a new CD player won't get as confused. Just make sure you do not put your scratched CD in the computer, becasue your mom is right. This will harm the computer. Good luck!