Counting the Number of Literals

To count the number of literals in the given expression F = AB' BC' CD' DE', we need to understand what a literal is and how it is represented in the expression.

Understanding Literals

In Boolean algebra, a literal is a variable or its negation. It can be represented by a single variable or a complemented variable. In the given expression, the variables are A, B, C, D, and E. The complemented variables are represented by a prime symbol (').

Counting the Number of Literals

To count the number of literals in the expression, we need to identify all the variables and their complements. Let's break down the expression and identify the literals:

1. AB' is a literal that includes the variables A and B with a complement on B.
2. BC' is a literal that includes the variables B and C with a complement on C.
3. CD' is a literal that includes the variables C and D with a complement on D.
4. DE' is a literal that includes the variables D and E with a complement on E.

Therefore, we have 4 literals in the given expression.

Explanation

The given expression F = AB' BC' CD' DE' is a product of sums (POS) form, where each term is a literal. Each literal represents either a variable or its complement. In this expression, we have 4 terms, each containing two variables with a complement on one of them. Hence, the total number of literals in the expression is 4.

Final Answer

The correct answer is 4 literals.