When a file is written to disk, what may happen as a result of fragmentation?

• A. It may be split into blocks to fill gaps
• B. It is stored in a single contiguous block
• C. It is encrypted automatically
• D. It is copied to RAM

Answer: (A)

Fragmentation on disk happens when a file’s data ends up in non-contiguous blocks because free space is scattered. When a file is written, the filesystem places its data into available blocks. If there isn’t one large, continuous region of free space to hold the whole file, the system writes the data into several separate blocks, leaving gaps between them. That’s the idea behind the phrase “split into blocks to fill gaps.”

This can slow reads because the disk head must move to multiple locations to assemble the whole file. Modern filesystems try to minimize this by allocating contiguous extents or by defragmenting periodically, but fragmentation can still occur, especially after many edits and deletions. The other options don’t describe how data is stored on disk: encryption is a separate process, and copying to RAM is a memory operation, not a disk fragmentation outcome.