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GCSE Computer Science/Logic gates
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Logic gates are the basic building blocks of any digital system. It is a circuit having one or more than one input and only one output. There are four main types of gate; NOT, AND, OR and XOR. There are also three gates which are the inverse of one of the main gates; NAND, NOR and XNOR. These inverse gates are the equivalent of the main gate type followed by a NOT.
Truth Tables
Specification link
- Draw truth tables and recognise a logic gate from its truth table- Produce truth tables for given logic circuits - 2016 CIE Syllabus p12
A truth table shows all of the possible inputs and outputs for a logic circuit. The example below is for a NOT gate. It shows that if the input is a 1 then the output is a 0 and vice-versa.
IN OUT 0 1 1 0
Gate Types
Specification link
- Understand and define the functions of NOT, AND, OR, NAND, NOR and XOR (EOR) gates, including the binary output produced from all the possible binary inputs- Recognise and use ... standard symbols used to represent logic gates - 2016 CIE Syllabus p12
NOT
thumb|A NOT GateA NOT gate will invert, or flip, any input. If the input is a 1 then it will output a 0 and vice-versa.
A Y 0 1 1 0
AND
thumb|An AND GateAn AND gate will return a 1 if, and only if, both of the inputs were a 1. If either, or both, inputs are a 0 then the output will also be 0.
A B Y 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1
OR
thumb|An OR GateAn OR gate will return a 1 if either, or both, of the inputs are a 1. It will only return a 0 if both inputs were a 0.
A B Y 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1
XOR
thumb|An XOR GateThe XOR gate will return a 1 if either, but not both, of the inputs are a 1. If both, or neither, input is a 1 then it will return 0.
A B Y 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
NAND
thumb|A NAND GateThe NAND gate is the opposite of an AND gate.
A B Y 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
NOR
thumb|A NOR GateThe NOR gate is the same as an OR followed by a NOT, so is the inverse of an OR gate.
A B Y 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0
XNOR
thumb|An XNOR GateThe XNOR gate is the same as an XOR followed by a NOT, so is the inverse of an XOR gate.
A B Y 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1
Logic Circuits
Specification link
- use logic gates to create electronic circuits- produce a logic circuit to solve a given problem or to implement a given written logic statement - 2016 CIE Syllabus p12
A logic circuit is an electronic circuit which includes one or more logic gates. Below is an example of a logic circuit together with its logic table:
thumb|Logic circuit
A B A AND B A OR B Q 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1
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