Question on magnets and computer.... see details?

Question

Why should you never put a magnet near or on a computer or videotape???? What would happen if you did???

PLEASE ANSWER!!!

(ten points of best answer)

Answer 1

There are many magnetic components in many electronical devices, not just computers. Sticking a strong magnet against your PC can cause various items on your mother board to come loose. One thing you don't want to try, similar to this question, is to stick your magnet against a computer monitor (CRT monitor that is). This can actually pull the color tubes out of place and distort your picture permenantly. Same goes for a CRT television.

I did it when I was little and my parents didn't like it.

Answer 2

Because the hard drive of the computer and any floppy disk or zip disk and the videotape all store information using magnetism. Putting a magnet near any of these things runs the risk of changing the data on the media.

Answer 3

Both of the storage devises you mention in your question store data magnetically.

Your hard drive or removable disk store the information as small magnetic bits, bytes and words - if a magnet is placed near these devices, the information (the magnetic bits) is simply erased.

Video tape, although analog and not digital, sores the information in the same fashion, by replicating the data magnetically onto a tape which is coated with a magnetic film.

For what its worth, the information or data which is on DVDs and CDs is optical (read by a laser instead of magnetic induction) and magnets will not effect them at all.

Answer 4

Or on a credit card. The information is recorded by an electromagnet and exists as a magnetic pattern in the magnetic particles of the tape, stripe or disk. A magnet would remagnetize the particles differently, erasing the information.