What is a logic gate?
A circuit board can be found inside most digital devices. It is a flat, thin board that has tiny electrical componentWorking parts of a product or system. built onto it. These components make up an electric circuit and include:
- resistors
- capacitors
- diodes
- transistors
- integrated circuits
Many electronic circuits have to make decisions. They look at one or more inputData which is inserted into a system for processing and/or storage. and use these to determine the outputData which is sent out of a system. from the circuit. The process of doing this uses electronic logic, which is based on digital switches called gates. Each input and output of the logic gateCircuit components which take several inputs, compare the inputs with each other, and provide a single output based on logical functions such as AND, OR and NOT. must be one of two states:
- True or 1 or on
- False or 0 or off
A single digital signal has only two states - on or off. However, if you use two inputs you can double the number of possible states, to four.
| Number of states | Input A | Input B |
| 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Number of states | 1 |
|---|---|
| Input A | 0 |
| Input B | 0 |
| Number of states | 2 |
|---|---|
| Input A | 0 |
| Input B | 1 |
| Number of states | 3 |
|---|---|
| Input A | 1 |
| Input B | 0 |
| Number of states | 4 |
|---|---|
| Input A | 1 |
| Input B | 1 |
In a logic gate, each combination of input signals can be made to produce a different outcome. binaryA number system that contains two symbols, 0 and 1. Also known as base 2. numbers reflect the two states - on and off, 0 and 1. Logic gate calculations can also be represented as truth tableUsed to assess possible results of a Boolean algebra statement..