A Conversation for Bernoulli's Principle
I thought I'd heard of Bernoulli before....
Wibble McWibble Started conversation Feb 14, 2003
When I was learning all about these 'ere compewter thingies... I remembered there being a "Bernoulli Box" way way back, that was used as a storage device... 
*quick internet search later*
"Bernoulli Drives
Most of us identify Bernoulli drives with the 20 megabyte removable cartridges made by Iomega Corporation. This technology, though, is based on a principle of physics that is used every day. Bernoulli's Principle states that an increase in the flow of a fluid on one side of a surface produces less pressure on the other side, and a decrease in fluid flow on one side results in an increase in pressure on the other side. For example, a plane's wings are made so the speed of the airflow above the wing is greater than the speed below it, the result being that the pressure below the wing is greater than the pressure above it, producing a lift that helps the plane take off. Iomega used this principle in the Bernoulli Box by having a flexible magnetic disk rotate very closely to a circular plate which contains the magnetic read/write heads. When the disk is spinning, the circular plate draws in and manipulates air flow, lifting the disk up towards the plate close enough that the head-to-disk spacing is very small (50 microns for the Bernoulli Box). Since the magnetic head does not actually touch the disk (doing so would create pressure that would push the disk away from it, and nullify the Bernoulli effect), head crashes are practically impossible. Also, since the disk is closely (but safely) aligned with the magnetic head, more data can be stored and accessed, since the head can accurately read/write from more tracks than otherwise possible. Also, given the general basis of this method, Bernoulli technology can be used with other storage methods, in order to achieve even more reliable ways of storing far more data than before.
by Dr Michael Arthur
Reprinted from STReport 16/32bit Magazine No.7.07 Issue #99 "
Blimey - 20mb storage... Head crashes... I keep forgetting how old I really am!
Key: Complain about this post
I thought I'd heard of Bernoulli before....
More Conversations for Bernoulli's Principle
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."