Binary Adders

From Coder Merlin
Within these castle walls be forged Mavens of Computer Science ...
— Merlin, The Coder
Boy in sailor suit with blackboard with math

Prerequisites[edit]

Introduction[edit]

One of the most fundamental operations performed by computers, aside from the logical operations that we've already discussed, is the arithmetic operation of addition.

Half-Adder[edit]

Let's consider what's required to add two, single-bit binary integers. We'll need one bit to represent the sum of the integers, and another to handle the carry. Representing this in the form of a truth table yields:

Inputs Outputs
0 0 0 0
0 1 0 1
1 0 0 1
1 1 1 0

This is formally termed a half-adder, a logic circuit capable of adding two bits.

ObserveObserveIcon.png
Observe, Ponder, and Journal: Section 1
  1. What truth table do you recognize that produces the output of the Carry column?
  2. What truth table do you recognize that produces the output of the Sum column?


Full-Adder[edit]

In order to add two single-bit binary integers PLUS a carry, we need an adder capable of adding three single-bit binary numbers. Again, we'll need one bit to represent the sum of the integers, and another to handle the carry. Representing this in the form of a truth table yields:

Inputs Outputs
0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 1
0 1 0 0 1
0 1 1 1 0
1 0 0 0 1
1 0 1 1 0
1 1 0 1 0
1 1 1 1 1

This is formally termed a full-adder, a logic circuit capable of adding three bits.

ObserveObserveIcon.png
Observe, Ponder, and Journal: Section 2
  1. What do you notice about the relationship between the first-half (top four rows) of the full-adder as compared to all of the rows of the half-adder?
  2. Why is this true?

Key Concepts[edit]

Key ConceptsKeyConceptsIcon.png
  • A half-adder is a logic circuit capable of adding two bits and output a carry bit and a sum bit.
  • A full-adder is a logic circuit capable of adding three bits and output a carry bit and a sum bit.

Exercises[edit]

Template:W1017-Exercises

References[edit]