Metals Used in Hard Drives

By Evan Kubitschek

Hard drives are used to store computer data. The technology has been steadily improving, with drives reaching sizes of 2 terabytes. Hard drives are constructed with various metals and alloys.

Ferromagnetic Materials

Hard drives use magnetically charged metals to save data. The magnetic forces manipulate the metals to represent either a 1 or a 0 in binary, which translates into data.

Platters

Platters are where the data in a hard drive is stored, and are constructed of aluminum alloy.

Spindle

The spindle which reads the platters by transmitting a magnetic signal is constructed of copper wire.

Enclosures

Hard drive enclosures that house all the technology are constructed of aluminum.

Screws

The screws used to mount the hard drive in a computer are made with steel.

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