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Does data have weight?
- Thread starter Zwhaler
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That's because it's older. Your tastes changed.I just tested it with both my 750 GB externals. The one with the fat chick porn weighs more than the skinny chick porn.
Anyway, the data on a drive makes no difference, as mentioned, because it's just a realignment of what was on the drive to begin with..
On the other hand, a spinning drive weighs more than an immobile one.
Wow, best response so far! That is kind of what I expected, because data isn't in the form of actual mass. (i think?)
I just tested it with both my 750 GB externals. The one with the fat chick porn weighs more than the skinny chick porn.
That's just wrong...
I work for a cable studio and we have this big, heavy equipment rack that we have to haul around for outside shoots. When we record a lot of video on the hard drive, we always complain that the rack weighs a lot more.
We're joking, of course.
We're joking, of course.
If data had mass, then computer wires would actually have to function like plumbing, and you could stall an internet connection by squeezing the computer's network cable like a garden hose.
Put it this way - a 750GB hard drive is never empty in a physical sense...it always has 750GB stored on it, in the form of magneto-optically arranged molecules. When it's "empty", that simply means that all the molecules are arranged in a state that signifys "empty" to the computer. By re-arranging them in meaningful ways data is "written". But all 750GB are arranged on the hard drive's platters at all times. Even if sectors become corrupt, the physical material is still there.
I just tested it with both my 750 GB externals. The one with the fat chick porn weighs more than the skinny chick porn.
I believe you when you say you have 750 gigs of fat chick porn.
you are all wrong!
the more data to record to a drive the LIGHTER it gets. let me explain
we all agree that energy can not be created or destroyed, just changed from one form to another.
we all agree that matter is a form of stored energy.
When you record to your hard drive it becomes hot and heat is energy. This energy must have come from somewhere and the only option is that the mass of the data on the drive has been converted into heat which radiates away and therefore a small weight loss occurs.
I could go on ...
the more data to record to a drive the LIGHTER it gets. let me explain
we all agree that energy can not be created or destroyed, just changed from one form to another.
we all agree that matter is a form of stored energy.
When you record to your hard drive it becomes hot and heat is energy. This energy must have come from somewhere and the only option is that the mass of the data on the drive has been converted into heat which radiates away and therefore a small weight loss occurs.
I could go on ...
Sorry, that's nonsense.
There are little magic elves inside hard drives who write to the disk platters. Everybody knows energy and matter are the same thing. They have magic tools that convert this energy into special elf ink. The more data that is written, the more ink that is used up, therefore the drive gets heavier.
you are all wrong!
the more data to record to a drive the LIGHTER it gets. let me explain
(...) and the only option is that the mass of the data on the drive has been converted into heat which radiates away and therefore a small weight loss occurs.
So my drive would have evaporated by now...
That was my thinking. It depends on from whom? Robert Hannsen's data weighed in, heavier.Some words carry more weight than others.
may be not today but some day ....
btw can I steal your "iguana on a log" photo for my wallpaper? as your copy does not have long left on your HD
Maybe my sarcasm filter is broken, but if not, I'm sorry you've not been convinced already.
you must be American
I'm not sure what leads you to that assumption, but I can assure you that I've seen plenty of uninformed replies to this thread, and plenty of better sarcasm as well.
You are getting many varied and conflicting responses. All of them true to a certain extent, and all of them debatable. However, I believe I have the answer to this riddle.
Data weighs 100 kilograms (approx 220 lbs). It is also composed of 25 kg of tripolymer composites, 12 kg of molybdenum-cobalt alloys and 1.3 kg of bioplast.
[source]
You are getting many varied and conflicting responses. All of them true to a certain extent, and all of them debatable. However, I believe I have the answer to this riddle.
Data weighs 100 kilograms (approx 220 lbs). It is also composed of 25 kg of tripolymer composites, 12 kg of molybdenum-cobalt alloys and 1.3 kg of bioplast.
Keep your brittle transitional metals to yourself. Mr Data may be offended by us speculating on his weight gain/loss issues.
you are all wrong!
the more data to record to a drive the LIGHTER it gets. let me explain
we all agree that energy can not be created or destroyed, just changed from one form to another.
we all agree that matter is a form of stored energy.
When you record to your hard drive it becomes hot and heat is energy. This energy must have come from somewhere and the only option is that the mass of the data on the drive has been converted into heat which radiates away and therefore a small weight loss occurs.
I could go on ...
you know in some way he does have a point. Not about the energy coming from the mass of the hard drive but in the fact that it does become a little lighter as data is put on the drive (or taken off the drive for that matter)
We all know hard drives have movable parts and all moving parts created friction and from there that slowly wears away at the drive. We also know that hard drives product heat so some of the lubracated evaporated away over time.
Now how much of a different in mass there is would be negligible at best but there is a difference in mass. Just the mass change is not because of the data but because of normal wear and tear.
I notice that, when on a slow wireless connection, when I try to access my data, I have to wait. Is this similar? ;)