ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

7400 series

Okay, so imagine you have some building blocks that you can use to create different things. The 7400 series is like those building blocks, but for making electronic devices that help computers and other machines work.

These building blocks are called "logic gates", and they're like tiny machines that can do different things depending on how they're put together. There are four main types: AND gates, OR gates, NOT gates, and XOR gates.

An AND gate takes two input signals and only gives an output signal if both of them are "on" (kind of like how you need both hands to clap). An OR gate takes two input signals and gives an output signal as long as at least one of them is "on" (kind of like how you can either eat an apple or an orange, but you don't have to eat both). A NOT gate takes one input signal and "flips" it, so if the input is "on", the output is "off", and vice versa (kind of like if you say "yes" and then someone says "no", it's the opposite of what you said). An XOR gate takes two input signals and gives an output signal if one of them is "on" but not if both of them are "on" (kind of like if you have two toys but you can only play with one at a time).

With these logic gates, you can create all kinds of circuits that do different things. For example, you can use them to make a circuit that adds two numbers together, or a circuit that tells a computer to display a certain image on the screen.

The 7400 series is a specific set of logic gates that are designed to work well together. They were created in the 1960s and are still used in electronics today, although newer technologies have come along too. They're kind of like a "classic" set of building blocks that many people still like to use.