Applications of Magnetism in the Computer Engineering Field

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Many aspects of Computer Engineering are affected by the study of Magnetism. Unlike many fields of study, however, magnetism can be both helpful and harmful when it comes to many of the devices used in computers. One of the most basic examples of the use of magnetism in conjunction with computers is the hard drive. Nowadays, hard drives are used in many different consumer electronics products from computers to mp3 players to game consoles. A hard drive is used to store large amounts of data, and also to retrieve stored data quickly. A hard drive works by storing data in the form of tiny magnetic domains onto a magnetic ‘platter’. The platter is made up of thousands of tiny magnetic domains. Within each domain, a northern charge would denote a 1, while a southern charge would denote a 0. Because all computer data is comprised of 1’s and 0’s, they can be stored on a hard drive as N and S charged domains. The charge is written by a read/write head on the end of an actuator arm.

The actuator is controlled using two very strong magnets which move the arm around. While it might seem that the magnets would interfere with the magnetic storage on the platter, the magnets that control the actuator are positioned on a vertical axis, so the field they produce does not modify the storage on the platter. It is because of the nature of a hard drive that magnets can also be so harmful to them. If you were to take a magnet and stick it to the top of a hard drive, the magnet would alter the states existing on the platter resulting in a loss of data

Another example of computer related technology is a standard CRT computer monitor. Even though LCD monitors are become more popular because of their size, traditional Cathode Ray Tu...

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...d fan on top of the heatsink to further distribute the heat. Some new computers come standard with 3 or 5 fans, and some people have as many as 9 or more in a single case. Needless to say, as the number of fans goes up, so does the noise level. One way to both reduce the noise level, and to increase the amount of cooling is to use magnetic-driven fans. Because it is magnetically driven, it requires less space in the traditional motor hub area, which results in more airflow, improving the efficiency of heat dissipation. They work by creating a magnetic field on the outside of the fan blades, and using that to push the blades creating airflow. Between the way that hard-drives work, the way a CRT is able to display images, and the way that fans work, there are many ways that magnets influence the way that computers work, and even improve upon existing technology.

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