So if you have an empty memory card compared to one which is full with say 64GB of data (or any other large amount). If you weighed them both on an incredibly sensitive scales, would there be a difference in the weight?
Essentially I’m asking does data/computer memory have any mass?
In: 11
Technically, yes. Computer memory works by storing electrons: if a memory bit has electrons, then it’s a 1; and if it has no electrons, then it’s a 0. [Electrons have mass](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electron_mass), and so every bit that’s flipped to 1 by storing electrons will add mass to the memory. However, we’re talking *minuscule* amount of mass, 9.109 x 10^-31 kg per electron, which is so small that even with several billion electrons stored, a human would not be able to tell a difference by picking up the full memory, and it would take an extraordinarily precise scale to detect the difference in weight.
So, technically yes, but for practical purposes, no.
Latest Answers