EPISODE · Sep 14, 2018 · 59 MIN
Does Data Have Mass?
from The Hyperfine Physics Podcast · host Derek Padilla and Zak Espley
Is your cell phone heavier when it has more data stored in memory? What about an SD card? Magnetic storage drive? Is there a difference? Zak and Derek dive in to the physics of flash storage, and what that means for mass even on the smallest of small scales. Electron mass? Einstein mass-energy equivalence? Is there any change at all? Original reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/74rboo/if_my_60_gb_phone_is_full_or_empty_is_there_any/ Maxwell’s demon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_demon Our Mathematical Universe, by Max Tegmark: https://www.amazon.com/Our-Mathematical-Universe-Ultimate-Reality/dp/0307599809The podcast lives at https://www.thehyperfine.com/ Join our listener community on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheHyperfine/ Follow the show on Instagram @thehyperfine: https://www.instagram.com/thehyperfine/ Derek on Instagram (and Twitter) @liketortilla: https://www.instagram.com/liketortilla/ Zak on Twitter @phyzaks: https://twitter.com/phyzaks
What this episode covers
Is your cell phone heavier when it has more data stored in memory? What about an SD card? Magnetic storage drive? Is there a difference? Zak and Derek dive in to the physics of flash storage, and what that means for mass even on the smallest of small scales. Electron mass? Einstein mass-energy equivalence? Is there any change at all? Original reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/74rboo/if_my_60_gb_phone_is_full_or_empty_is_there_any/ Maxwell’s demon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_demon Our Mathematical Universe, by Max Tegmark: https://www.amazon.com/Our-Mathematical-Universe-Ultimate-Reality/dp/0307599809The podcast lives at https://www.thehyperfine.com/ Join our listener community on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheHyperfine/ Follow the show on Instagram @thehyperfine: https://www.instagram.com/thehyperfine/ Derek on Instagram (and Twitter) @liketortilla: https://www.instagram.com/liketortilla/ Zak on Twitter @phyzaks: https://twitter.com/phyzaks
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Does Data Have Mass?
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