Final answer:
The sum of seek time and rotational delay equals the access time, which is necessary to read or write data on a hard drive.
Step-by-step explanation:
The sum of the seek time and the rotational delay equals the access time, which is the time it takes to get into position to read or write data on a hard drive. When a request is made to read or write data at a specific location on a disk, the read/write head must first move to the correct track, which is the seek time.
Then, we need to wait until the disk rotates the correct sector under the read/write head, which is the rotational delay. If we are at a point diametrically opposite to the required location, we need to wait until it goes around a full circle, or 360°. Given a certain rotational speed, this delay can be calculated.
Both seek time and rotational delay are critical factors in determining the overall efficiency of a hard disk drive.
The sum of the seek time and the rotational delay equals the access time, which is the time it takes to get into position to read or write.
This involves moving the read/write head to the correct track and waiting for the disk to rotate the needed sector into position.