The 4020 is a 14-stage ripple carry binary counter integrated circuit (IC) used in digital electronics for counting and frequency division applications. It consists of 14 flip-flops connected in a ripple-carry fashion. This means the output of one stage serves as the clock input for the next stage. The IC can count in binary from 0 to 2^14-1 (16383) before resetting to zero. It operates on positive-edge-triggered clock signals. Thus allowing it to increment its count value at each rising edge of the clock pulse. The 4020 is common in frequency division circuits, timers, and other applications requiring precise and extended counting capabilities.