In a storage partition, if the cluster size is 32 KB and the file size is 10 KB, the entire 32 KB cluster is allocated. How much slack space remains in that cluster?

• A. Deleted space
• B. Slack space
• C. Cluster space
• D. Sector space

Answer: (B)

In file systems, data is stored in fixed-size units called clusters. When a file doesn’t fill its final cluster, the unused portion inside that cluster is slack space. Here, the cluster size is 32 KB and the file uses 10 KB in that cluster, so the remaining slack space is 32 KB minus 10 KB, which equals 22 KB. This unused area is Slack space—the correct term for this leftover inside a cluster. The other terms don’t fit: Deleted space isn’t a standard label for this concept; cluster space would imply the entire cluster’s capacity, not the unused portion; sector space refers to space at the sector level, not the remaining portion within the last cluster. So 22 KB of slack space remains.