Introduction to Logic Gates
What are Logic Gates?
Logic gates are the fundamental building blocks of digital electronics. They perform basic logical functions
using binary input (0 and 1) and produce a single output. Each logic gate implements a specific Boolean
function.
Basic Logic Gates
Gate Symbol Function Truth Table
AND · A&B 0 0 -> 00 1 -> 01 0 -> 01 1 -> 1
OR + A or B 0 0 -> 00 1 -> 11 0 -> 11 1 -> 1
NOT ¬ Inverts A 0 -> 11 -> 0
NAND NOT(AND) 0 0 -> 10 1 -> 11 0 -> 11 1 -> 0
NOR NOT(OR) 0 0 -> 10 1 -> 01 0 -> 01 1 -> 0
XOR XOR A or B but not both 0 0 -> 00 1 -> 11 0 -> 11 1 -> 0
XNOR NOT(XOR) 0 0 -> 10 1 -> 01 0 -> 01 1 -> 1
Practice with Truth Tables
Create your own truth tables to test combinations of logic gates. For example, try combining AND and NOT
gates to make a NAND gate and verify its output for all input combinations.
Online Simulators
To experiment without hardware, you can use free simulators like:
- Logicly: https://logic.ly/demo/
- TinkerCAD Circuits: https://www.tinkercad.com/
- CircuitVerse: https://circuitverse.org/
What's Next?
Once you're comfortable with basic gates, explore Boolean algebra and simplification techniques. This will
help you design more complex and efficient circuits.