Final answer:
True, magnetic disks utilize magnetic particles to store data on their surfaces through binary coding, with modern hard drives using giant magnetoresistance for efficient data processing.
Step-by-step explanation:
True, magnetic disks use magnetic particles to store items on the disk's surface. Data is represented on these disks in the form of binary code, with 0s and 1s indicating different magnetic states in the ferromagnetic material coating the disk. While older disks used magnetic induction for reading data, modern hard drives often employ a technology called giant magnetoresistance (GMR). GMR is based on the effect that a large change in electrical resistance is induced by an applied magnetic field to thin films of alternating ferromagnetic and nonmagnetic layers, enabling quick and efficient read/write processes.
Magnetic storage devices are crucial in today's technology for permanent data storage and have seen significant advances thanks to nanotechnology. The ability to manipulate and store data magnetically is fundamental to the operation of external hard drives and other digital storage devices.