Normal blend mode + transparency

I've searched around for help on what happens to create the resulting pixel color when normal blending mode is used in conjunction with transparency. Most of the sources I've read simply say that there is no blending in normal mode. Clearly, that can't be true when the top layer has some transparency applied. Sure, we interpret that as no blending. Our brains see it as a simple overlay. But two pixels of different color are displayed in the same location. Some kind of mixing is going on to display the result. What's happening?
Thanks for your help. I know this is purely academic, but it's gnawing at me.

Have You tried simply running a test with some Solid Fill-layers?
The resulting values for the channels seem pretty simple to calculate if the lower layer is solid:
resultingValue = lowerValue * ((100 - upperOpacity) / 100) + upperValue * (upperOpacity / 100)

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