What are hard drives made of?
Hard drives take 7 things directly, among them aluminum, glass, cobalt, chromium, platinum and steel. Trace them back and you pass 49 made things on the way to 27 raw materials.
How hard drives are made See it on the map
What goes straight in
From the ground: 27 raw materials
- Crude oil through aluminum
- Coal through aluminum
- Silica sand through glass
- Limestone through chromium
- Cobalt ore through cobalt
- Chromite through chromium
- Air through chromium
- Water through chromium
- Platinum ore through platinum
- Bauxite through aluminum, alumina
- Rock salt through chromium, soda ash
- Trona through chromium, soda ash
- Sulfur through cobalt, sulfuric acid
- Natural gas through platinum, ammonia
- Iron ore through steel, manganese
- Dolomite through steel, magnesium
- Manganese ore through steel, manganese
- Copper ore through printed circuit board, copper
- Corn through chromium, soda ash, carbon dioxide
- Quartz through steel, magnesium, metallurgical silicon
- Timber through steel, magnesium, metallurgical silicon
- Tin ore through printed circuit board, solder, tin
- Lead ore through printed circuit board, solder, silver
- Silver ore through printed circuit board, solder, silver
- Zinc ore through printed circuit board, solder, silver
- Sugarcane through chromium, soda ash, carbon dioxide, baker's yeast, molasses
- Sugar beet through chromium, soda ash, carbon dioxide, baker's yeast, molasses
Made along the way: 42 things
Metals 12
Chemicals and fuels 23
Petroleum cokeSoda ashSulfuric acidNitric acidHydrochloric acidAmmoniaOxygen gasQuicklimeArgonCaustic sodaCarbon dioxideChlorineHydrogenPropanePhenolPropyleneAcetoneCharcoalBenzeneNaphthaFormaldehydeTolueneMethanol