Digital Circuits Questions and Answers - 4-Bit Parallel Adder/Subtractor Part-2

1. The binary subtraction of 0 – 0 =?
a) Difference = 0, borrow = 0
b) Difference = 1, borrow = 0
c) Difference = 1, borrow = 1
d) Difference = 0, borrow = 1

Answer: a
Explanation:The binary subtraction of 0 – 0 = 0. Thus, it’s difference is 0 as well as it’s borrow.

2. How many basic binary subtraction operations are possible?
a) 1
b) 4
c) 3
d) 2

Answer: b
Explanation: 4 basic binary subtraction operations (0-0, 1-0, 0-1, 1-1) are possible.
0 – 0 = 0
0 – 1 = 1 ( Borrow 1)
1 – 0 = 1
1 – 1 = 0

3. When performing subtraction by addition in the 2’s-complement system ____________
a) The minuend and the subtrahend are both changed to the 2’s-complement
b) The minuend is changed to 2’s-complement and the subtrahend is left in its original form
c) The minuend is left in its original form and the subtrahend is changed to its 2’s-complement
d) The minuend and subtrahend are both left in their original form

Answer: c
Explanation: When performing subtraction by addition in the 2’s-complement system, the minuend is left in its original form and the subtrahend is changed to its 2’s-complement. It is then added to the minuend. If the result has carry, then it’s dropped and that’s the final answer. Else, if the result has no carry, then the result is again converted to it’s 2’s complement form and that’s the final answer with a ‘negative’ sign

4. What are the two types of basic adder circuits?
a) Sum and carry
b) Half-adder and full-adder
c) Asynchronous and synchronous
d) One and two’s-complement

Answer: b
Explanation: There are two types of adder circuits: half-adder and full-adder. Half-Adder has 2 inputs while Full-Adder has 3 inputs. Whereas, both have two outputs SUM and CARRY.

5. Which of the following is correct for full adders?
a) Full adders have the capability of directly adding decimal numbers
b) Full adders are used to make half adders
c) Full adders are limited to two inputs since there are only two binary digits
d) In a parallel full adder, the first stage may be a half adder

Answer: d
Explanation: By using maximum of two half adders we can make a full adder for the first stage of a Parallel Full adder.

6. The selector inputs to an arithmetic/logic unit (ALU) determine the ____________
a) Selection of the IC
b) Arithmetic or logic function
c) Data word selection
d) Clock frequency to be used

Answer: b
Explanation: An ALU performs basic arithmetic and logic operations and stores it in the accumulator. Examples of arithmetic operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Examples of logic operations are comparisons of values such as NOT, AND and OR and any logical operations.

7. For a 4-bit parallel adder, if the carry-in is connected to a logical HIGH, the result is ___________
a) The same as if the carry-in is tied LOW since the least significant carry-in is ignored
b) That carry-out will always be HIGH
c) A one will be added to the final result
d) The carry-out is ignored

Answer: c
Explanation: For a 4-bit parallel adder, if the carry-in is connected to a logical HIGH, one will be added to the final result as a result because carry-in gives output as 1.

8. Fast-look-ahead carry circuits found in most 4-bit full-adder circuits which ___________
a) Determine sign and magnitude
b) Reduce propagation delay
c) Add a 1 to complemented inputs
d) Increase ripple delay

Answer: b
Explanation: A carry-lookahead adder (CLA) is a type of adder used in digital logic. A carry-lookahead adder improves speed by reducing the amount of time required to determine carry bits. It reduces the propagation delay by making the hardware more complex. The ripple carry design is converted in such a way that carry over a group of bits of the adder becomes 2-level logic.

9. One way to make a four-bit adder to perform subtraction is by ___________
a) Inverting the output
b) Inverting the carry-in
c) Inverting the B inputs
d) Grounding the B inputs

Answer: c
Explanation: A adder is a digital circuit which adds bits along with a carry bit from a previous stage, thus producing 2 outputs SUM and CARRY. Since, a four bit adder has four A, four B and a carry at the input end. So, for subtraction to be performed, all the Bs terminal should be inverted.

10.What distinguishes the look-ahead-carry adder?
a) It is slower than the ripple-carry adder
b) It is easier to implement logically than a full adder
c) It is faster than a ripple-carry adder
d) It requires advance knowledge of the final answer

Answer: c
Explanation: It is faster than ripple carry adder as it reduces the propagation delay by converting the ripple carry in such a way that the carry over a group of bits of the adder becomes 2-level logic.