4051 datasheet pinout misleading? (To this n00b anyway)

Using Arduino General Electronics
1

I have been trying to integrate a 4051 mux into my project. With two separate chips, I wired it up how I thought it should be, only to find the Arduino's 5v rail pulled down close to 4.2v and the chip heating up! Fortunately, no damage appears to have been done to the Arduino; I'm not sure I can say the same for the 4051's though. I did some searching for breadboard examples, to see where I might have gone wrong, and I think I've found the problem. The datasheet for the 4051 says:

Pin 7 - Vee - Supply voltage
Pin 8 - Vss - Ground supply voltage
Pin 16 - Vdd - Supply voltage

So, first of all, color me confused that there are two "supply voltage" pins. Some internet searching indicates that Vdd is usually the +5 rail and Vee is usually the negative rail. Ok. The first time I hooked the chip up, I put 5v on both pins 16 and 7, because they're both labeled "supply voltage" so why wouldn't they both get the same input?

Anyway, after further searching, I found a page on garagelab.com that seems to indicate that both Vss and Vee should be ground, which is probably where my problem came up. I haven't tried it again yet... This seems like a horribly misleading way to label and describe the pins. If pin 7 should be ground and pin 16 should be +5 volts supply, why would they both be labeled "supply voltage"?!?!

2

If you are using a single supply then Vee is connected to ground.
If you are switching bipolar siganls then ex. Vcc could be +5V and Vee could be -5V.
The analog inputs/outputs (Y0 to Y7, and Z) can swing between VCC as a
positive limit and VEE as a negative limit. VCC ? VEE may not exceed 10.0 V.

FYI

3

Thanks for the explanation. This appears to be one of those things that is going to confuse me the first time I encounter it and then be fine from there on out. Only 999999998 to go!