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Dynamic RAM is the standard main memory type in computers today and is what you're referring to when you tell someone your PC has 32MB of RAM. In DRAM, information is stored as a series of charges in a capacitor. Within a millisecond of being electronically charged, the capacitor discharges and needs to be refreshed to retain its values. This constant refreshing is the reason for the use of the term dynamic.

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Published as Tutor in the 10/21/97 issue of PC Magazine.