Solution

Concept:

To calculate the time required to write 600000 bytes of data with a blocking factor of 10 and a record size of 100 characters (or 100 bytes assuming one byte per character) using a magnetic tape drive with a transport speed of 200 inches per second and a recording density of 1600 bytes per inch, we can use the following formula:

Time = Amount of data / (Transport speed x Recording density)

Explanation:

Blocking factor = 10
Number of records per block = 10
Number of bytes per block = 1000 (100 characters x 10 records per block)
Number of blocks required = 600 (600000 bytes / 1000 bytes per block)

The length of tape required for one block can be calculated as follows:
Length of tape required for one block = (Number of bytes per block) / (Recording density)
= 1000 / 1600
= 0.625 inches

Therefore, the total length of tape required for 600 blocks is:
Total length of tape required = (Length of tape required for one block) x (Number of blocks)
= 0.625 x 600
= 375 inches

Now, we can calculate the time required to write this length of tape:
Time required = (Length of tape) / (Transport speed)
= 375 / 200
= 1.875 seconds
Therefore, the time required to write 600000 bytes of data grouped in 100 characters record with a blocking factor of 10 is 1.875 seconds.