From Gates To CPUs: Building Complex Systems

The Incredible Climb: 3 Gates → Billions

Start: AND, OR, NOT gates

Combine into: Half-adder (adds two bits)

Combine into: Full-adder (adds with carry)

Combine into: 8-bit adder (adds numbers up to 255)

Keep combining: ALU, CPU, computer

Your laptop has billions of transistors (tiny switches). Each group of transistors forms gates. Gates form circuits. Circuits form your entire computer.