The number of flip-flops required to design a modulo-272 counter is

To design a modulo-N counter, the number of flip-flops (n) must satisfy the condition 2^n ≥ N. Here, we need a modulo-272 counter, so we must find the smallest integer n such that 2^n is at least 272. Calculating powers of 2, we find that 2^8 = 256, which is less than 272. This means 8 flip-flops can only represent 256 unique states, insufficient for counting up to 271. However, the next power is 2^9 = 512, which comfortably exceeds 272. Therefore, a minimum of 9 flip-flops is required to implement all necessary states for the counter. Option A (8) is incorrect because 256 < 272, while Option C (27) and Option D (11) are unnecessarily large. The correct choice is 9 flip-flops.