Imagesource: https://8bitnews.io/

174,848 bytes. That's it. That's what the specification says when it comes to the data density of a 5.25-inch floppy disk, read and written by the Commodore 1541 disk drive.

But is that really the limit? If you adhere to the spec, you learn that the 1541 can write on the magnetic disk encased in plastic in exactly 35 tracks. In total, there is room for 683 blocks, but only 664 can be written by the user. That leaves 169,984 bytes remaining - just under 170kB.

And how do you double this capacity? With a pair of scissors and a daring cut, so that you can simply rotate the disk by 180 degrees and entrust it to the 1541 to write on the second side as well.

But is this the limit then? Depending on the hardware and software used, the answer is: No. There's more to it. And the more is not so little at all.

Michael Steil, aka mist64 on GitHub, has dissected the topic and delves more than just deeply into it. It's interesting when you learn that (provided you're using more modern floppies) 42 tracks can be written instead of the usual ones. And that's not all.

For anyone who's become curious now - Michael's article leaves no questions unanswered.

An intriguing read.