Magnetic storage: platters, tracks and sectors

Name:

Date:

Class:

Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. What is a platter in magnetic storage?

A A spinning circular disk that stores data

B A small chip with no moving parts

2. What shape are the tracks on a platter?

A Concentric circles

B Straight lines across the disk

3. What is a sector?

A A section of a track

B A whole platter

4. How is data stored on the surface of a platter?

A As tiny pits and lands burned by a laser

B As magnetised areas

5. Which statement about a platter is correct?

A It stays still while the data moves past it

B It spins while data is read or written

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1platter		AThis describes a sector, not a track. A track is a concentric circle, and a sector is a section of a track.
2track		BA spinning circular disk in a magnetic storage device that has a surface coated with magnetic material to hold data
3A sector is a small section of a track. It is the smallest block of data that is stored on the platter.		CA platter spins while data is read or written. It does not stay still.
4Data on a platter is stored as tiny magnetised areas, which are magnetised one way or the other to show 1s and 0s.		DOne of the concentric circles on a platter surface, like the rings of a target, that data is stored along
5A track is a section cut across a platter like a slice of pizza.		Esector
6A platter is a fixed, flat disk that never moves while data is read.		Fmagnetised area

Definitions

platter

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

_______ = spinning circular disk

tracks = concentric _______ on a platter

_______ = sections of a track

data = __________ areas on the platter

platter CONTAINS tracks track CONTAINS _______

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A platter = "spinning disk"

B tracks = "straight lines"

C sectors = "sections of a track"

Question 2

A tracks = 4

B sectors = 8

C spinning = True

D total = tracks + sectors

Question 3

A class Platter:

B shape = "square"

C spins = True

Question 4

A def read(track, sector):

B head.move_to(sector)

C return head.read(sector)

Question 5

A for sector in platter:

B for sector in track:

C read(sector)

Answer Key

Magnetic storage: platters, tracks and sectors

Section A: Quick Questions

A — A spinning circular disk that stores data

A — Concentric circles

A — A section of a track

B — As magnetised areas

B — It spins while data is read or written

Section B: Match the Pairs

platter → A spinning circular disk in a magnetic storage device that has a surface coated with magnetic material to hold data

track → One of the concentric circles on a platter surface, like the rings of a target, that data is stored along

A sector is a small section of a track. It is the smallest block of data that is stored on the platter. → sector

Data on a platter is stored as tiny magnetised areas, which are magnetised one way or the other to show 1s and 0s. → magnetised area

A track is a section cut across a platter like a slice of pizza. → This describes a sector, not a track. A track is a concentric circle, and a sector is a section of a track.

A platter is a fixed, flat disk that never moves while data is read. → A platter spins while data is read or written. It does not stay still.

Section C: Definitions

platter — A spinning circular disk in magnetic storage. Its surface is split into tracks (concentric circles) and sectors (sections of a track), where data is stored as magnetised areas.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

platter = spinning circular disk

tracks = concentric circles on a platter

sectors = sections of a track

data = magnetised areas on the platter

platter CONTAINS tracks
track CONTAINS sectors

Section E: Spot the Error

B — Tracks are concentric circles on the platter, not straight lines. It should be tracks = "concentric circles".

D — Each track is split into sectors, so the total number of sectors is tracks multiplied by sectors per track. It should use * instead of +.

B — A platter is a circular disk, not a square. It should be shape = "disk".

B — The read/write head must first move to the correct track. It should be head.move_to(track).

A — A platter is divided into tracks first, and each track is divided into sectors. The outer loop should be for track in platter:.