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An Analysis of Electromagnetism in “Breaking Bad”

By Shobini Iyer

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Season 5 Episode 1 : “Live Free or Die,”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVEj36ABsVU

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How is data stored on a hard drive?

Surface of a hard drive is coated with ferromagnetic material that is optimized for storing magnetism
Actuator arm moves very quickly to write data
Head of the actuator arm is an electromagnet that moves between north and south magnetism, writing that pattern onto the disk beneath it

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How is data stored on a hard drive?

The series of north and south magnetic poles on the circular tracks are known as domains
Each domain holds a binary digit with 1 being north and 0 south
This allows data, which is stored in zeros and ones, to be encoded onto the disk

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“Destroying” a hard drive

Coercivity

Magnet’s resistance to change in magnetization

Degaussing

Works by producing a magnetic field that overpowers the coercivity value of the hard drive with a stronger force

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Biot-Savart Law

Values I had to obtain:

Number of loops in a coil	6
Fly height (distance the head is from the disk)	25 nm
Current in ultra-thin copper wire	130 mAmps
Radius of loop in wire	0.15 mm

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Magnetic field generated by hard drive

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More values I had to obtain:

Distance from hard drive	2.44 m
Fly height (distance the head is from the disk)	25 nm
Current in ultra-thin copper wire	130 mAmps
Radius of loop in wire	0.15 mm

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Current generated by giant electromagnet

8 ft = 2.44 m

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Conclusion

Not feasible!
11,305.72 amps

A standard car battery can produce a current up to 600 amps, so Walter and Jesse would need at least 19 car batteries
For reference, at 1.0 to 4.3 Amps, the rhythmic pumping of the heart ceases
This type of shock could kill you instantly…

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References

Baluncore. (2020, March 14). What is the strength of this scrap yard electromagnet?. Physics Forums | Science Articles, Homework Help, Discussion. https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/what-is-the-strength-of-this-scrap-yard-electromagnet.985434/

Gwadmin. (2015, February 13). Data recovery 101: Read/write head assembly: Gillware Inc.. Gillware. https://www.gillware.com/hard-drive-data-recovery/data-recovery-101-readwrite-head-assembly/#:~:text=Read%2Fwrite%20heads%20are%20the,data%20to%20the%20platter%20surface

Last, J., & Cloud, T. (1959, December 1). Hard-disk write/read head electronics. Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange. https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/65886/hard-disk-write-read-head-electronics

Lee, A. (1961, September 1). Current capacity of very thin (0.1mm ~ 0.5mm) copper wires?. Electrical Engineering Stack Exchange. https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/145798/current-capacity-of-very-thin-0-1mm-0-5mm-copper-wires

Lifeline. (2022, August 13). How much electricity do car batteries produce?. Lifeline Batteries. https://lifelinebatteries.com/blog/how-much-electricity-do-car-batteries-produce-2/#:~:text=Even%20though%20most%20car%20batteries,as%20much%20as%20600%20amps

“Live Free or Die.” Breaking Bad, created by Vince Gilligan, season 5, episode 1, High Bridge Productions, 2010.

Parlante, N. (2012). How a Hard Drive Works. How a hard drive works. https://cs.stanford.edu/people/nick/how-hard-drive-works/#:~:text=The%20hard%20drive%20contains%20a,the%20stored%200%27s%20and%201%27s

Storr, W. (2022, October 27). Electromagnet, electromagnetic coil and permeability. Basic Electronics Tutorials. https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/electromagnetism/electromagnets.html#comment-71914

Ulaby, F. (2002). Technology brief 13 hard disk drives (HDD) - cad.eecs.umich.edu. Technology Briefs. https://cad.eecs.umich.edu/techbriefs/tb13.pdf