¿ How do you calculate the amperage used by a 500MB hard drive?

Greetings to all science and physics lovers, I'm bringing you a topic from everyday life that, at a scientific level, we should be familiar with. This is the case with hard drives, whether for PCs or laptops. We're talking about 500MB hard drives. Whether we have a computer at home, at work, in our school, or in our library, we often find ourselves with a computer. What's unique today is how its amperage is calculated.

Hello, my fellow readers, to calculate the current in amperes (A) consumed by a 500MB hard drive (although this is extremely small by today's standards), it's not based on the capacity, but on the type of drive (for example, HDD or SSD), its operating voltage, and its electrical specifications.

We apply the following formula:

I = P / V

Where:

I: is the current in amperes (A)

P: is the power in watts (W)

V: is the voltage in volts (V)

For an HDD

For an older HDD:

Let's assume a 3.5-inch hard drive, typical in older desktop PCs (which might have 500 MB of capacity):

Voltage: 12V and 5V (usually uses both, 12V for motor and 5V for logic)

Estimated power consumption: about 6W to 10W in operation

Let's use 10W as an example:

I = 10W / 12V = approx. 0.83A

But keep in mind that since it also draws some current at 5V, it can consume around 1A to 1.5A total at its peak startup (when the motor is turning).

For a modern SSD:

They generally use only 5V

They consume between 2W and 5W

Which gives a current of 0.4A to 1A maximum

A 500 MB hard drive, if it is an older 3.5" HDD model, will probably consume between 0.5A and 1.5A, depending on the voltage and whether it is in standby or booting. As a final idea, my dear reader, for these everyday situations, to calculate the current consumed by a 500 MB hard drive, the formula is used:

𝐼 = 𝑃/ 𝑉

Where:

I is the current in amps, P is the power in watts, and V is the voltage. Although the capacity of the drive does not directly influence power consumption, an older 500 MB hard drive (HDD type) typically consumes between 0.5A and 1.5A, depending on the voltage used (usually 5V and 12V) and the operating state (idle or boot). The exact current varies depending on the model and drive technology.

Bibliographic reference

General Physics by Santiago Burbano de Ercilla, 2003.

Physics for Science and Technology by Paul Allen Tipler, Gene Mosca, 2005.

Physics: Fundamental Science by Guido Guayasamin, 2010.