Step 1: Understand that devices on a local network communicate using two types of addresses: IP addresses and MAC addresses.
Step 2: Know that an IP address is like a home address for a device on the internet, while a MAC address is like a unique ID for a device on a local network.
Step 3: Realize that when a device wants to send data to another device, it needs to know the MAC address of the destination device, but it usually only has the IP address.
Step 4: Learn that the ARP protocol helps in finding out the MAC address that corresponds to a given IP address.
Step 5: Conclude that the primary purpose of ARP is to resolve (or translate) IP addresses into MAC addresses so that devices can communicate effectively on a local network.
