Home / Electronics / Flip-flops and counters

Flip-flops and counters

Compare latch memory, rising-edge flip-flops and the cycle of a 4-bit counter.

    E28 · Flip-flops and counters0.00 s · Ready

    Electronics · Digital logic and control / Principles and inquiry

    Flip-flops and counters experiment guide

    Compare latch memory, rising-edge flip-flops and the cycle of a 4-bit counter.

    How does it work?

    A D flip-flop stores input only on rising edges; a 4-bit counter repeats every 16 clocks.

    Key relationship

    D-FF: Qnext = D (↑CLK) · counter = (Q₀+n) mod 16

    Try this investigation

    1. Compare latch memory, rising-edge flip-flops and the cycle of a 4-bit counter.
    2. Run and record each of the three baseline presets.
    3. Compare the changed variable and its result with the baseline records.

    Interpreting your results

    For a D flip-flop with Q=1 and D=0, what is Q when the clock falls from 1 to 0?

    1

    Assumptions and limitations

    Metastability and propagation delay are omitted. The forbidden SR state is not treated as a valid bit. Experiment on screen; do not reproduce this with real power supplies, outlets or high voltage.