Wed 10 May 2006
I’ve had some stupid support requests recently, but we have a new champion, I think:
Customer: [translated from German] “Can you please tell me if a full hard disk is heavier than an empty one?”
.. any particle physicists out there want to shed some light on this? 
3 Responses to “Oh the Comedy”
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May 10th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
May 10th, 2006 at 6:48 pm
*sigh*
Lets try that again.
<wannabe particle physicist mode>
If we assume that (a) a empty hard drive is zeroed, and (b) that the magnetic representation of zero on a hard disk platter is a south pole (on top, and therefore a north pole underneath), we reach the following conclusion:
In the northen hemisphere, if the bottom side of the magnetic layer is all south poles, it will be more strongly attracted to the north pole (and therefore down) than it would be if the distribution was less uniform. Therefore, an empty hard disk (one with all south poles on top, north poles on the bottom) will in fact be lighter in the northen hemisphere than a full hard disk, with the situation being reversed in the southern hemisphere.
Ors.
</mode>
May 10th, 2006 at 7:30 pm
lol – thanks for that, I may well use it, if the guy bothers to come back to us
)