What is the primary function of a flip-flop in digital circuits?

The primary function of a flip-flop in digital circuits is to store a single bit of data. Flip-flops are fundamental building blocks in digital electronics, serving as memory elements that can maintain their output state until they are triggered to change. This capability makes them crucial for storing binary information, which is essential in various applications such as registers, counters, and memory devices.

When a flip-flop receives a control signal, such as a clock pulse, it can change its state or hold its current state based on its design (e.g., D flip-flop, SR flip-flop). This ability to hold information allows flip-flops to serve as the basic form of memory in digital systems, where they can represent binary values (0 or 1).