What is a floppy disk?

A floppy disk is indeed a thin, flexible platter coated with magnetic material, which is what allows it to store data. The surface of the disk is designed to be readable by a floppy disk drive, where magnetic heads move over the disk to write or read the data stored on it. When the disk is inserted into the drive, its flexibility allows it to be aligned properly for reading and writing operations.

Floppy disks were widely used in the late 20th century for data storage, although they have since been largely replaced by more advanced storage media. The magnetic coating on the disk is crucial because it holds the data in a format that can be interpreted by computers. The physical structure and design of the floppy disk make it distinct from other forms of data storage, emphasizing its unique characteristics as a flexible medium for storing digital information.