Half Adder & Full Adder Explained — How Computers Add Numbers

How does a computer add two numbers — not with code, but with actual electronics? In this video we build the circuits that make addition happen at the hardware level, starting from the simplest possible adding circuit and working up to something that can add multi-bit binary numbers. We cover: • The rules of binary addition (and why carrying works the same as primary school) • The half adder — the smallest adding circuit, built from one XOR gate and one AND gate • The full adder — why the half adder isn't enough, and how to fix it with two half adders and an OR gate • The ripple carry adder — chaining full adders together to add 4-bit (and larger) binary numbers • Overflow — what happens when the answer doesn't fit Everything is demonstrated in a logic gate simulator so you can see exactly how the signals flow through the circuit. No code required — just logic gates doing what they do.This is the foundation of how virtually every processor ever built handles addition. Next time we'll