Magnetic \Mag*net"ic\, Magnetical \Mag*net"ic*al\, a. [L.
   magneticus: cf. F. magn['e]tique.]
   1. Pertaining to the magnet; possessing the properties of the
      magnet, or corresponding properties; as, a magnetic bar of
      iron; a magnetic needle.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Of or pertaining to, or characterized by, the earth's
      magnetism; as, the magnetic north; the magnetic meridian.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Capable of becoming a magnet; susceptible to magnetism;
      as, the magnetic metals.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. Endowed with extraordinary personal power to excite the
      feelings and to win the affections; attractive; inducing
      attachment.
      [1913 Webster]

            She that had all magnetic force alone. --Donne.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. Having, susceptible to, or induced by, animal magnetism,
      so called; hypnotic; as, a magnetic sleep. See
      Magnetism. [Archaic]
      [1913 Webster +PJC]

   Magnetic amplitude, attraction, dip, induction, etc.
      See under Amplitude, Attraction, etc.

   Magnetic battery, a combination of bar or horseshoe magnets
      with the like poles adjacent, so as to act together with
      great power.

   Magnetic compensator, a contrivance connected with a ship's
      compass for compensating or neutralizing the effect of the
      iron of the ship upon the needle.

   Magnetic curves, curves indicating lines of magnetic force,
      as in the arrangement of iron filings between the poles of
      a powerful magnet.

   Magnetic elements.
      (a) (Chem. Physics) Those elements, as iron, nickel,
          cobalt, chromium, manganese, etc., which are capable
          or becoming magnetic.
      (b) (Physics) In respect to terrestrial magnetism, the
          declination, inclination, and intensity.
      (c) See under Element.

   Magnetic fluid, the hypothetical fluid whose existence was
      formerly assumed in the explanations of the phenomena of
      magnetism; -- no longer considered a meaningful concept.
      

   Magnetic iron, or Magnetic iron ore. (Min.) Same as
      Magnetite.

   Magnetic needle, a slender bar of steel, magnetized and
      suspended at its center on a sharp-pointed pivot, or by a
      delicate fiber, so that it may take freely the direction
      of the magnetic meridian. It constitutes the essential
      part of a compass, such as the mariner's and the
      surveyor's.

   Magnetic poles, the two points in the opposite polar
      regions of the earth at which the direction of the dipping
      needle is vertical.

   Magnetic pyrites. See Pyrrhotite.

   Magnetic storm (Terrestrial Physics), a disturbance of the
      earth's magnetic force characterized by great and sudden
      changes.

   magnetic tape (Electronics), a ribbon of plastic material
      to which is affixed a thin layer of powder of a material
      which can be magnetized, such as ferrite. Such tapes are
      used in various electronic devices to record fluctuating
      voltages, which can be used to represent sounds, images,
      or binary data. Devices such as audio casette recorders,
      videocasette recorders, and computer data storage devices
      use magnetic tape as an inexpensive medium to store data.
      Different magnetically susceptible materials are used in
      such tapes.

   Magnetic telegraph, a telegraph acting by means of a
      magnet. See Telegraph.
      [1913 Webster + PJC]

	

	magnetic tape \magnetic tape\ n.
   A long thin plastic ribbon coated with iron oxide or other
   ferromagnetic material, used to record audio or video signals
   digital data in the form of small magnetized regions on the
   tape; it is a common digital data storage medium for computer
   information.

   Syn: mag tape, tape.
        [WordNet 1.5]

	

	magnetic tape
    n 1: memory device consisting of a long thin plastic strip
         coated with iron oxide; used to record audio or video
         signals or to store computer information; "he took along a
         dozen tapes to record the interview" [syn: magnetic tape,
         mag tape, tape]

	

	41 Moby Thesaurus words for "magnetic tape":
   Flexowriter typewriter, Teleplotter, alphabetical printer,
   bulletin board, card, catalog card, digital graph plotter, disc,
   file, filing card, film, hard copy, index card, library catalog,
   magnetic recorder, microcard, microcards, microdot, microfiche,
   microfilm, motion-picture film, oscillograph recorder,
   oscilloscope, phonograph record, platter, printout, punch cards,
   punched tape, reader, readout, recorder, relay register,
   scoreboard, scorecard, scoresheet, slip, tape, tape reader,
   teletypewriter, ticker tape, videotape

	

	magnetic tape

    (Or "magtape", "tape" - paper tape is now
   obsolete) A data storage medium consisting of a magnetisable
   oxide coating on a thin plastic strip, commonly used for
   backup and archiving.

   Early industry-standard magnetic tape was half an inch wide
   and wound on removable reels 10.5 inches in diameter.
   Different lengths were available with 2400 feet and 4800 feet
   being common.  DECtape was a variation on this "round
   tape".

   In modern magnetic tape systems the reels are much smaller and
   are fixed inside a cartridge to protect the tape and for
   ease of handling ("square tape" - though it's really
   rectangular).  Cartridge formats include QIC, DAT, and
   Exabyte.

   Tape is read and written on a tape drive (or "deck") which
   winds the tape from one reel to the other causing it to move
   past a read/write head.  Early tape had seven parallel tracks
   of data along the length of the tape allowing six bit
   characters plus parity written across the tape.  A typical
   recording density was 556 characters per inch.  The tape had
   reflective marks near its end which signaled beginning of tape
   (BOT) and end of tape (EOT) to the hardware.

   Data is written to tape in blocks with inter-block gaps
   between them.  Each block is typically written in a single
   operation with the tape running continuously during the write.
   The larger the block the larger the data buffer required in
   order to supply or receive the data written to or read from
   the tape.  The smaller the block the more tape is wasted as
   inter-block gaps.  Several logical records may be combined
   into one physical block to reduce wastage ("blocked
   records").  Finding a certain block on the tape generally
   involved reading sequentially from the beginning, in contrast
   to magnetic disks.  Tape is not suitable for random
   access.  The exception to this is that some systems allow
   tape marks to be written which can be detected while winding
   the tape forward or rewinding it at high speed.  These are
   typically used to separate logical files on a tape.

   Most tape drives now include some kind of data compression.
   There are several algorithms which provide similar results:
   LZ (most), IDRC (Exabyte), ALDC (IBM, QIC) and
   DLZ1 (DLT).

   See also cut a tape, flap, Group Code Recording,
   spool, macrotape, microtape, Non Return to Zero
   Inverted, Phase Encoded.

   (1997-04-05)