Read the page
on multivibrators first.
The output of
the bistable toggles (changes state) when its input receives a pulse.
This means that
after two pulses the output has returned to its origonal state.
If it was origonally
low, it has gone high after the first pulse and then returned low after
the second.

Looking at the
first diagram, the two input pulses have provided a single, wider pulse
at the output.
If we put eight
pulses in then we get four out.
The bistable
divides by two.
If we put a
16 kHz signal in, we get an 8 kHz signal out.
The bistable
acts as a frequency divider.
If we feed the
8 kHz into another bistable the resulting frequency is 4 kHz.
We can divide
a high frequency signal down to a lower one.

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