Question

I know matter as atoms, electrons protons etc.. But in Electronics people say that information is stored in to disks in the form of tiny digits called bits. Can some one explain me this process of storing information in to matter in terms of electrons, protons etc..

Answer 1

Oh well, I saw you posting some questions but this one is maybe the hardest. I don't know the exact answer but I will try to give you something. AND I'M CERTAINLY WRONG SO IF SOMEONE WANTS TO ADD SOMETHING OR PROVE THAT I'M TELLING AWFUL THINGS, FEEL FREE TO DO IT.

Well, let's begin.
In electronics, there are languages like the binary one. It is used to "create" and manage the bits you're talking about, that are units of memory. They are created thanks to orders given to the machine, also thanks to the size of the memory cards.

The machines are calibrated to understand oreders and store informations in those bits.

And oh, I was about to write something long, boring and absolutely incomprehensible, but I found those (and you should read them, it could be the begining of a far bette answer than mine) :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-01/worlds-smallest-memory-bit-stores-data-using-just-12-atoms (the same as http://gizmodo.com/5875674/ibm-figures-out-how-many-atoms-it-takes-to-hold-a-bit-hint-its-12)
http://130.251.133.8/NR/rdonlyres/023A1209-68F3-449D-8EBA-4682B86322DB/464/scheda15Singleelectronmemoryforgigatoterabitstorag.pdf
http://www-mtl.mit.edu/~penfield/pubs/eb-03.html

Answer 2

I can't explain the storage in atomic terms, but I can try to explain it conceptually.

A "bit" is the smallest piece of information in a data stream. It has 2 possible states of existence.
A bit is either on (1) or off (0). It either exists (1) or it doesn't exist(0). It's either true(1) or not true(0). It's either positive(1) or negative(0). Red or white. Black or blue. Open or closed. Set or reset.

Bits can be streamed serially or stacked/lined up in a row and grabbed as a group. 8 bits are a byte. 16 are a word. 32 a D-word and 64 a Q-word.

On magnetic media, there are "tracks" that are marked off into magnetic domains. Depending on the magnetization, each domain is seen as magnetized or not, magnetized in a particular way or not, on or off...whatever...and these are identified in human terms as "1" or "0".

CD/DVDs OTOH, also have tracks that are scarred by the write head with tiny "pits". And just as with magnetic domains, the pits either exist or they do not, or they face one way or the other, so the read head ends up seeing a datum in one of 2 ways - which humans still identify as "1" or "0".

Answer 3

thank you.