Final answer:
To find the network address from an IP address using a subnet mask, the logical AND operation is used. Each bit of the IP address is ANDed with the corresponding bit of the subnet mask to yield the network address.
Step-by-step explanation:
To isolate the network address from an IP address using the subnet mask, we utilize the logical AND operation, which corresponds to the AND truth table in boolean algebra. When you perform an AND operation between the IP address and the subnet mask, the result is the network address. Each bit of the IP address is compared with the corresponding bit of the subnet mask. If both bits are 1, the resulting bit is 1; if either bit is 0, the resulting bit is 0. This process is applied to all bits of the IP address and subnet mask.
For example, let's consider an IP address of 192.168.1.10 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0:
- IP address in binary: 11000000.10101000.00000001.00001010
- Subnet mask in binary: 11111111.11111111.11111111.00000000
- Resulting network address in binary after applying AND operation: 11000000.10101000.00000001.00000000, which translates back to 192.168.1.0 as the network address.