track
(1) A single song or musical composition on a CD or as a download. See online music store.
(2) The metal interconnecting pathways on a chip that tie the transistors, resistors and capacitors together. There can be eight or more layers of tracks on a chip (integrated circuit). See MOSFET.
(2) The storage channel on a disk or tape. On magnetic disks (hard, floppy, Zip, etc.), tracks are concentric circles. CD and DVD tracks have one continuous, spiral-shaped channel starting near the center and moving outward. On magnetic tapes, tracks are parallel lines along the length of the tape. Helical scan tapes use diagonal lines (see helical scan).
On magnetic devices, bits are recorded as reversals of polarity in the magnetic surface. On optical media, the bits are recorded either as physical pits under a clear, protective layer or as changes in the reflectivity of the material. See magnetic disk and optical disc.
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| Tracks and Sectors |
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| On disk, tracks are concentric circles. On tape, they are generally parallel with the length, although helical scan tracks run diagonal. |
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| Track Width |
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| The width of a track is wider than the bit length. At the beginning of the 21st century, the state-of-the-art was more than 30,000 tracks per inch (tpi). |
track1. a rail or pair of parallel rails on which a vehicle, such as a locomotive, runs, esp the rails together with the sleepers, ballast, etc., on a railway
2. an endless jointed metal band driven by the wheels of a vehicle such as a tank or tractor to enable it to move across rough or muddy ground
3. Physics the path of a particle of ionizing radiation as observed in a cloud chamber, bubble chamber, or photographic emulsion
4. a. a course for running or racing
b. (as modifier): track events
5. US and Canadiana. sports performed on a track
b. track and field events as a whole
6. a path on a magnetic recording medium, esp magnetic tape, on which information, such as music or speech, from a single input channel is recorded
7. any of a number of separate sections in the recording on a record, CD, or cassette
8. a metal path that makes the interconnections on an integrated circuit
9. the distance between the points of contact with the ground of a pair of wheels, such as the front wheels of a motor vehicle or the paired wheels of an aircraft undercarriage
10. a hypothetical trace made on the surface of the earth by a point directly below an aircraft in flight
| (storage) | track - The part of a disk which passes under one
read/write head while the head is stationary. The number of
tracks on a disk surface therefore corresponds to the number
of different radial positions of the head(s). The collection
of all tracks on all surfaces at a given radial position is
known a cylinder and each track is divided into sectors. | |