Truth Tables Explained
Learn to read and generate truth tables to mathematically profile your circuits.
What is a Truth Table?
A truth table is a mathematical grid utilized in logic processing specifically to compute the functional values of logical expressions on each possible combination of their logical variables.
In human terms: It’s basically a cheat sheet showing exactly what an output will do for every single possible input scenario.
A Basic AND Gate Truth Table
Let’s imagine an AND gate with two inputs, A and B, and one output, Q. Since there are 2 inputs in binary, there are exactly 4 total possible states (2^n).
| Input A | Input B | Output (Q) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 1 | 1 |
A Basic OR Gate Truth Table
The OR gate evaluates to High (1) if absolutely any of its contributing inputs are High.
| Input A | Input B | Output (Q) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | 1 | 1 |
Gately features automated truth table generation. When you select a cluster of interconnected logic gates, you can mathematically generate exactly how those gates compute entirely without manually toggling inputs!