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Static and Magnetism

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bioborg

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Can I ruin a static memory device with a magnet, for example a highly magnetic neodymium magnet ?
 
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thank-you , i didn't think so. I thought the energy needed to change the static is electromotive force not electromagnetic force, and I was right. Anyhow with enough motion I believe there can be a current induced through the leads (in theory), enough to cause changes in the SRAM. I believe it's the sort of the same phenomena that occurs often in outer space with Alpha particles and some of their RAM chips. Sorry if I sort of answered my own question, I was just wondering if I had it right, my good friend helped enlighten me and now I think I understand better...
 
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well ... electromagnetic radiation is different than magnetism I think ... ultraviolet radiation can change the bits in static ram (look at EPROMs and mask-programming), and certainly more energetic forms can also change the bit (x-rays, gamma, cosmic, etc) ... but this is electromagnetic radiation (or in the case of your alpha partical cosmic / nuclear radiation) (your alpha particles in space = cosmic radiation)... you don't get that from a magnet.

exposing the ram to a high power EM field could damage the chips, like you say, inducing stray voltages in the traces ... exposure to a short wavelength, such as microwaves might damage the chips through induction heating.
 
...and, I believe that if I take a magnet lets say nice size (3x3), and spin it fast enough so that the field is coming into effect at a high enough rate, this could also be a means to cause changes in the static state?, I think?
 
justDIY said:
well ... electromagnetic radiation is different than magnetism I think .
A magnetic field (ie. Magnetism) is one half of what electromagnetic radiation is made of. The other half is an electric field. How do you think antennas work? An electromagnetic wave induces current in the antenna (right?)

bioborg said:
...and, I believe that if I take a magnet lets say nice size (3x3), and spin it fast enough so that the field is coming into effect at a high enough rate, this could also be a means to cause changes in the static state?, I think?
You mean use induction to generate current spikes in the chip like an EMP? I think that could do it but you would have to work at it a bit.



Not all radiation is the same. You have electromagnetic radiation (light, radio, X-rays, gamma rays) which are made up of electric and magnetic fields. YOu also have beta and alpha radiations which are made of subatomic particles.
justDIY said:
(x-rays, gamma, cosmic, etc) ... but this is electromagnetic radiation (or in the case of your alpha partical cosmic / nuclear radiation) (your alpha particles in space = cosmic radiation)... you don't get that from a magnet.

Nuclear radiation consists of wave radiation (gamma rays) as well as particle radiation (alpha/beta particles). Cosmic radiation is also made up of a few kinds, where (I thought) gamma radiation was dominant. Either way, nuclear and cosmic radiations consist of both wave and particle emissions.
 
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cool, now all I have to do is spin the magnet at warp speed...., this was just some theoretical talk, but thanks so much for the replies recieved so far..., I am understanding a bit more, and of course when time permits later on today (I am in the Northeast, USA), I will do some wikipedia and google searches on the subjects...
 
bioborg said:
I believe there can be a current induced through the leads (in theory), enough to cause changes in the SRAM. I believe it's the sort of the same phenomena that occurs often in outer space with Alpha particles and some of their RAM chips

Oh I also forgot to say that there is a difference between the magnetic fields destroying a RAM chip than the cosmic radiation destroying the chip. The changing magnetic field induces current spikes which destroy the chip. The cosmic radiation is classified as ionization radiation which means it is powerful enough to ionize things (duh) and that destroys your chips too, but in a different way. (Think about how UV light is used to erase some memory chips. It's because UV is ionizing). At least, I'm pretty sure of all this.
 
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I thought ionizing radiation was a type of radiation that caused other objects to become radioactive ... like exposing steel to the various functions of a nuclear reactor causes it to become radioactive itself, but steel is x-rayed and exposed to UV all the time, and does not become radioactive.

but then again, UV is able to ionize oxygen, creating o-zone ... so i'm not sure what the difference is there?!

pff physics!
 
justDIY said:
I thought ionizing radiation was a type of radiation that caused other objects to become radioactive ... like exposing steel to the various functions of a nuclear reactor causes it to become radioactive itself, but steel is x-rayed and exposed to UV all the time, and does not become radioactive.

but then again, UV is able to ionize oxygen, creating o-zone ... so i'm not sure what the difference is there?!

pff physics!
it matters with .how much energy the radiation has . an ionization occurs when the radiation strikes off some electrons from an atom . but high energy particles that occur inside a reactor can penetrate inside an atom to interact with the nuclieus ..then it can become radioactive (which is independent of ionisation) (also don't forget that >99% of a atom is empty )
 
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