The ebook FEEE - Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering and Electronics is based on material originally written by T.R. Kuphaldt and various co-authors. For more information please read the copyright pages.



AND gate

One of the easiest multiple-input gates to understand is the AND gate, so-called because the output of this gate will be "high" (1) if and only if all inputs (first input and the second input and . . .) are "high" (1). If any input(s) are "low" (0), the output is guaranteed to be in a "low" state as well.

In case you might have been wondering, AND gates are made with more than three inputs, but this is less common than the simple two-input variety.

A two-input AND gate's truth table looks like this:

What this truth table means in practical terms is shown in the following sequence of illustrations, with the 2-input AND gate subjected to all possibilities of input logic levels. An LED (Light-Emitting Diode) provides visual indication of the output logic level:

 

 

 

It is only with all inputs raised to "high" logic levels that the AND gate's output goes "high," thus energizing the LED for only one out of the four input combination states.



Last Update: 2010-11-19