Topic 1: Laws of Boolean

Algebra
Boolean Algebra uses a set of Laws and Rules to define the operation of a
digital logic circuit.

A set of rules or Laws of Boolean Algebra expressions have been

invented to help reduce the number of logic gates needed to
perform a particular logic operation resulting in a list of functions or
theorems known commonly as the Laws of Boolean Algebra.
As well as the logic symbols “0” and “1” being used to represent a
digital input or output, we can also use them as constants for a
permanently “Open” or “Closed” circuit or contact respectively.
Boolean Algebra is the mathematics we use to analyse digital
gates and circuits. We can use these “Laws of Boolean” to both
reduce and simplify a complex Boolean expression in an attempt to
reduce the number of logic gates required. Boolean Algebra is
therefore a system of mathematics based on logic that has its own
set of rules or laws which are used to define and reduce Boolean
expressions.
The variables used in Boolean Algebra only have one of two
possible values, a logic “0” and a logic “1” but an expression can
have an infinite number of variables all labelled individually to
represent inputs to the expression, For example, variables A, B, C
etc, giving us a logical expression of A + B = C, but each variable
can ONLY be a 0 or a 1.
Examples of these individual laws of Boolean, rules and theorems
for Boolean Algebra are given in the following table.

Truth Tables
Boolean Equivalent Boolean Algebra
Description
Expression Switching Circuit Law or Rule

A in parallel with
A+1=1 Annulment
closed = “CLOSED”

A in parallel with
A+0=A Identity
open = “A”

A in series with
A.1=A Identity
closed = “A”

A in series with
A.0=0 Annulment
open = “OPEN”

A in parallel with
A+A=A Idempotent
A = “A”

A in series with
A.A=A Idempotent
A = “A”

NOT NOT A
NOT A = A Double Negation
(double negative) = “A”

A in parallel with
A+A=1 Complement
NOT A = “CLOSED”

A in series with
A.A=0 Complement
NOT A = “OPEN”
 A in parallel with B=
A+B = B+A Commutative
B in parallel with A

A in series with B=
A.B = B.A Commutative
B in series with A

invert and replace OR with

A+B = A.B AND
de Morgan’s Theorem

invert and replace AND with

A.B = A+B OR
de Morgan’s Theorem

The basic Laws of Boolean Algebra that relate to

the Commutative Law allowing a change in position for addition and
multiplication, the Associative Law allowing the removal of brackets
for addition and multiplication, as well as the Distributive
Law allowing the factoring of an expression, are the same as in
ordinary algebra.
Each of the Boolean Laws above are given with just a single or two
variables, but the number of variables defined by a single law is not
limited to this as there can be an infinite number of variables as
inputs too the expression. These Boolean laws detailed above can
be used to prove any given Boolean expression as well as for
simplifying complicated digital circuits.
A brief description of the various Laws of Boolean are given below
with A representing a variable input.

Description of the Laws of Boolean Algebra

 Annulment Law – A term AND‘ed with a “0” equals 0 or OR‘ed

with a “1” will equal 1


o A.0=0 A variable AND’ed with 0 is always equal to

0
o A+1=1 A variable OR’ed with 1 is always equal to
1

 Identity Law – A term OR‘ed with a “0” or AND‘ed with a “1”
will always equal that term


o A+0=A A variable OR’ed with 0 is always equal to

the variable
o A . 1 = A A variable AND’ed with 1 is always equal to
the variable

 Idempotent Law – An input that is AND‘ed or OR´ed with itself
is equal to that input


o A + A = A A variable OR’ed with itself is always

equal to the variable
o A . A = A A variable AND’ed with itself is always
equal to the variable

 Complement Law – A term AND‘ed with its complement equals
“0” and a term OR´ed with its complement equals “1”


o A .A= 0 A variable AND’ed with its complement is

always equal to 0
o A + A = 1 A variable OR’ed with its complement is
always equal to 1

 Commutative Law – The order of application of two separate
terms is not important


o A . B = B . AThe order in which two variables are

AND’ed makes no difference
o A + B = B + A The order in which two variables are
OR’ed makes no difference

  Double Negation Law – A term that is inverted twice is equal
to the original term


o A =A A double complement of a variable is always

equal to the variable

 de Morgan’s Theorem – There are two “de Morgan’s” rules or
theorems,

 (1) Two separate terms NOR‘ed together is the same as the two
terms inverted (Complement) and AND‘ed for
example: A+B = A . B

 (2) Two separate terms NAND‘ed together is the same as the two
terms inverted (Complement) and OR‘ed for
example: A.B = A + B

Other algebraic Laws of Boolean not detailed above include:

 Boolean Postulates – While not Boolean Laws in their own

right, these are a set of Mathematical Laws which can be used in
the simplification of Boolean Expressions.


o 0.0=0 A 0 AND’ed with itself is always equal to 0

o 1 . 1 = 1 A 1 AND’ed with itself is always equal to 1
o 1 . 0 = 0 A 1 AND’ed with a 0 is equal to 0
o 0 + 0 = 0 A 0 OR’ed with itself is always equal to 0
o 1 + 1 = 1 A 1 OR’ed with itself is always equal to 1
o 1 + 0 = 1 A 1 OR’ed with a 0 is equal to 1
o 1 = 0 The Inverse (Complement) of a 1 is always
equal to 0
o 0 = 1 The Inverse (Complement) of a 0 is always
equal to 1
 
 Distributive Law – This law permits the multiplying or factoring
out of an expression.


o A(B + C) = A.B + A.C (OR Distributive Law)

o A + (B.C) = (A + B).(A + C) (AND Distributive Law)

 Absorptive Law – This law enables a reduction in a complicated
expression to a simpler one by absorbing like terms.


o A + (A.B) = (A.1) + (A.B) = A(1 + B) = A (OR Absorption

Law)
o A(A + B) = (A + 0).(A + B) = A + (0.B) = A (AND
Absorption Law)

 Associative Law – This law allows the removal of brackets from
an expression and regrouping of the variables.


o A + (B + C) = (A + B) + C = A + B + C (OR
Associate Law)
o A(B.C) = (A.B)C = A . B . C (AND Associate Law)

Boolean Algebra Functions

Using the information above, simple 2-input AND, OR and NOT Gates
can be represented by 16 possible functions as shown in the
following table.

Function Description Expression

1. NULL 0
2. IDENTITY 1

3. Input A A

4. Input B B

5. NOT A A

6. NOT B B

7. A AND B (AND) A.B

8. A AND NOT B A.B

9. NOT A AND B A.B

10. NOT AND (NAND) A.B

11. A OR B (OR) A+B

12. A OR NOT B A+B

13. NOT A OR B A+B

14. NOT OR (NOR) A+B

15. Exclusive-OR A.B+A.B

16. Exclusive-NOR A.B+A.B

Laws of Boolean Algebra Example No1

Using the above laws, simplify the following expression: (A + B)(A
+ C)

Q= (A + B).(A + C)

A.A + A.C + A.B +

– Distributive law
B.C

A + A.C + A.B + B.C – Idempotent AND law (A.A = A)

A(1 + C) + A.B +
– Distributive law
B.C
 A.1 + A.B + B.C – Identity OR law (1 + C = 1)

A(1 + B) + B.C – Distributive law

A.1 + B.C – Identity OR law (1 + B = 1)

Q= A + (B.C) – Identity AND law (A.1 = A)

Then the expression: (A + B)(A + C) can be simplified to A +

(B.C) as in the Distributive law.

Topic 2:Boolean Algebra Truth

Tables
Boolean Algebra Expressions can be used to construct digital logic truth
tables for their respective functions

As well as a standard Boolean Expression, the input and output

information of any Logic Gate or circuit can be plotted into
standard Boolean Algebra truth tables to give a visual
representation of the switching function of the system.
The table used to represent the boolean expression of a logic gate
function is commonly called a Truth Table. A logic gate truth table
shows each possible input combination to the gate or circuit with
the resultant output depending upon the combination of these
input(s).
For example, consider a single 2-input logic circuit with input
variables labelled as A and B. There are “four” possible input
combinations or 22 of “OFF” and “ON” for the two inputs. However,
when dealing with Boolean expressions and especially logic gate
truth tables, we do not general use “ON” or “OFF” but instead give
them bit values which represent a logic level “1” or a logic level “0”
respectively.
Then the four possible combinations of A and B for a 2-input logic
gate is given as:
 Input Combination 1. – “OFF” – “OFF” or ( 0, 0 )
 Input Combination 2. – “OFF” – “ON” or ( 0, 1 )
 Input Combination 3. – “ON” – “OFF” or ( 1, 0 )
 Input Combination 4. – “ON” – “ON” or ( 1, 1 )
Therefore, a 3-input logic circuit would have 8 possible input
combinations or 23 and a 4-input logic circuit would have 16 or 2 4,
and so on as the number of inputs increases. Then a logic circuit
with “n” number of inputs would have 2n possible input
combinations of both “OFF” and “ON”.
So in order to keep things simple to understand, in this tutorial we
will only deal with standard 2-input type logic gates, but the
principals are still the same for gates with more than two inputs.
Then the Truth tables for a 2-input AND Gate, a 2-input OR Gate and
a single input NOT Gate are given as:

Boolean Algebra Truth Tables For A 2-input AND Gate

For a 2-input AND gate, the output Q is true if BOTH input A “AND”
input B are both true, giving the Boolean Expression of: ( Q = A and
B ).

Symbol Truth Table

A B Q

0 0 0

0 1 0
 1 0 0

1 1 1

Boolean Expression Q = A.B Read as A AND B gives Q

Note that the Boolean Expression for a two input AND gate can be
written as: A.B or just simply AB without the decimal point.

Boolean Algebra Truth Tables For A 2-input OR Gate

For a 2-input OR (Inclusive-OR) gate, the output Q is true if EITHER
input A “OR” input B is true, giving the Boolean Expression of: ( Q =
A or B ).

Symbol Truth Table

A B Q

0 0 0

0 1 1

1 0 1
 1 1 1

Boolean Expression Q = A+B Read as A OR B gives Q

Boolean Algebra Truth Tables For The NOT Gate

For a single input NOT (Inverter) gate, the output Q is ONLY true
when the input is “NOT” true, the output is the inverse or
complement of the input giving the Boolean Expression of: ( Q =
NOT A ).

Symbol Truth Table

A Q

0 1

1 0

Boolean Expression Q = NOT A or A Read as inversion of A gives Q

The NAND and the NOR Gates are a combination of
the AND and OR Gates respectively with that of a NOT Gate
(inverter).

2-input NAND (Not AND) Gate

For a 2-input NAND gate, the output Q is NOT true if BOTH
input A and input B are true, giving the Boolean Expression of: ( Q =
not(A AND B) ).

Symbol Truth Table

A B Q

0 0 1

0 1 1

1 0 1

1 1 0

Boolean Expression Q = A .B Read as A AND B gives NOT-Q

2-input NOR (Not OR) Gate

For a 2-input NOR gate, the output Q is true if BOTH input A and
input B are NOT true, giving the Boolean Expression of: ( Q = not(A
OR B) ).

Symbol Truth Table

A B Q

0 0 1

0 1 0

1 0 0

1 1 0

Boolean Expression Q = A+B Read as A OR B gives NOT-Q

As well as the standard logic gates there are also two special types
of logic gate function called an Exclusive-OR Gate and an Exclusive-
NOR Gate. The Boolean expression to indicate an Exclusive-OR or

( ⊕ ).
Exclusive-NOR function is to a symbol with a plus sign inside a circle,

The switching actions of both of these types of gates can be created

using the above standard logic gates. However, as they are widely
used functions they are now available in standard IC form and have
been included here as reference.
2-input EX-OR (Exclusive OR) Gate
For a 2-input Ex-OR gate, the output Q is true if EITHER input A or if
input B is true, but NOT both giving the Boolean Expression of: ( Q =
(A and NOT B) or (NOT A and B) ).

Symbol Truth Table

A B Q

0 0 0

0 1 1

1 0 1

1 1 0

Boolean Expression Q = A ⊕ B

2-input EX-NOR (Exclusive NOR) Gate

For a 2-input Ex-NOR gate, the output Q is true if BOTH input A and
input B are the same, either true or false, giving the Boolean
Expression of: ( Q = (A and B) or (NOT A and NOT B) ).

Symbol Truth Table

 A B Q

0 0 1

0 1 0

1 0 0

1 1 1

Boolean Expression Q = A ⊕ B

Summary of 2-input Logic Gates

The following Boolean ALgebra Truth Tables compare the logical
functions of the 2-input logic gates above.

Inputs Truth Table Outputs For Each Gate

A B AND NAND OR NOR EX-OR EX-NOR

0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1

0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0

1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0

1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1

The following Boolean Algebra truth tables gives a list of the

common logic functions and their equivalent Boolean notation.

Logic Function Boolean Notation

AND A.B

OR A+B

NOT A

NAND A .B

NOR A+B
EX-OR (A.B) + (A.B) or A ⊕ B

EX-NOR (A.B) + (A.B) or A ⊕ B

2-input logic gate truth tables are given here as examples of the
operation of each logic function, but there are many more logic
gates with 3, 4 even 8 individual inputs. The multiple input gates are
no different to the simple 2-input gates above, So a 4-input AND
gate would still require ALL 4-inputs to be present to produce the
required output at Q and its larger truth table would reflect that.

Topic 3: Boolean Algebra

Examples

Boolean Algebra Examples

Boolean Algebra examples of how to reduce the number of digital gates
using Boolean Algebra Laws

In this Boolean Algebra examples we will see that the Laws of

Boolean Algebra can be used to identify unnecessary logic gates
within a digital logic design reducing the number of gates required
saving on both power consumption and cost.
We have seen throughout this section that digital logic functions can
be defined and displayed as either a Boolean Algebra expression or
as a logic gate truth table. So here are a few examples of how we
can use Boolean Algebra to simplify larger digital logic circuits.

Boolean Algebra Examples No1

Construct a Truth Table for the logical functions at
points C, D and Q in the following circuit and identify a single logic
gate that can be used to replace the whole circuit.

First observations tell us that the circuit consists of a 2-

input NAND gate, a 2-input EX-OR gate and finally a 2-input EX-
NOR gate at the output. As there are only 2 inputs to the circuit
labelled A and B, there can only be 4 possible combinations of the
input ( 22 ) and these are: 0-0, 0-1, 1-0 and finally 1-1. Plotting the
logical functions from each gate in tabular form will give us the
following truth table for the whole of the logic circuit below.

Inputs Output at
A B C D Q

0 0 1 0 0

0 1 1 1 1

1 0 1 1 1

1 1 0 0 1

From the truth table above, column C represents the output function
generated by the NAND gate, while column D represents the output
function from the Ex-OR gate. Both of these two output expressions
then become the input condition for the Ex-NOR gate at the output.
It can be seen from the truth table that an output at Q is present
when any of the two inputs A or B are at logic 1. The only truth table
that satisfies this condition is that of an OR Gate. Therefore, the
whole of the above circuit can be replaced by just one single 2-
input OR Gate.

Boolean Algebra Examples No2

Find the Boolean algebra expression for the following system.

The system consists of an AND Gate, a NOR Gate and finally

an OR Gate. The expression for the AND gate is A.B, and the
expression for the NOR gate is A+B. Both these expressions are also
separate inputs to the OR gate which is defined as A+B. Thus the
final output expression is given as:
The output of the system is given as Q = (A.B) + (A+B), but the
notation A+B is the same as the De Morgan´s notation A.B, Then
substituting A.B into the output expression gives us a final output
notation of Q = (A.B)+(A.B), which is the Boolean notation for
an Exclusive-NOR Gate as seen in the previous section.

Inputs Intermediates Output

B A A.B A+B Q

0 0 0 1 1

0 1 0 0 0

1 0 0 0 0

1 1 1 0 1

Then, the whole circuit above can be replaced by just one

single Exclusive-NOR Gate and indeed an Exclusive-NOR Gate is
made up of these individual gate functions.

Example No3
Find the Boolean algebra expression for the following system.
This system may look more complicated than the other two to
analyse but again, the logic circuit just consists of
simple AND, OR and NOT gates connected together.
As with the previous Boolean examples, we can simplify the circuit
by writing down the Boolean notation for each logic gate function in
turn in order to give us a final expression for the output at Q.

The output from the 3-input AND gate is only at logic “1”
when ALL the gates inputs are HIGH at logic level “1” (A.B.C). The
output from the lower OR gate is only a “1” when one or both
inputs B or C are at logic level “0”. The output from the 2-
input AND gate is a “1” when input A is a “1” and inputs B or C are
at “0”. Then the output at Q is only a “1” when inputs A.B.C equal
“1” or A is equal to “1” and both inputs B or C equal “0”, A.(B+C).
By using “de Morgan’s theorem” inputs B and input C cancel out
as to produce an output at Q they can be either at logic “1” or at
logic “0”. Then this just leaves input A as the only input needed to
give an output at Q as shown in the table below.
Inputs Intermediates Output

C B A A.B.C B C B+C A.(B+C) Q

0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0

0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1

0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0

0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1

1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0

1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1

1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1

Then we can see that the entire logic circuit above can be replaced
by just one single input labelled “A” thereby reducing a circuit of six
individual logic gates to just one single piece of wire, (or Buffer).
This type of circuit analysis using Boolean Algebra can be very
powerful and quickly identify any unnecessary logic gates within a
digital logic design thereby reducing the number of gates required,
the power consumption of the circuit and of course the cost.

Topic 4: DeMorgan’s Theorem

DeMorgan´s Theorem and Laws can be used to to find the equivalency of the
NAND and NOR gates

DeMorgan’s Theorem uses two sets of rules or laws to solve various

Boolean algebra expressions by changing OR’s to AND’s,
and AND’s to OR’s
Boolean Algebra uses a set of laws and rules to define the operation
of a digital logic circuit with “0’s” and “1’s” being used to represent
a digital input or output condition. Boolean Algebra uses these zeros
and ones to create truth tables and mathematical expressions to
define the digital operation of a logic AND, OR and NOT (or
inversion) operations as well as ways of expressing other logical
operations such as the XOR (Exclusive-OR) function.
While George Boole’s set of laws and rules allows us to analyise and
simplify a digital circuit, there are two laws within his set that are
attributed to Augustus DeMorgan (a nineteenth century English
mathematician) which views the logical NAND and NOR operations
as separate NOT AND and NOT OR functions respectively.
But before we look at DeMorgan’s Theory in more detail, let’s
remind ourselves of the basic logical operations where A and B are
logic (or Boolean) input binary variables, and whose values can only
be either “0” or “1” producing four possible input
combinations, 00, 01, 10, and 11.

Truth Table for Each Logical Operation

Input
Output Conditions
Variable

A B AND NAND OR NOR

0 0 0 1 0 1

0 1 0 1 1 0

1 0 0 1 1 0

1 1 1 0 1 0

The following table gives a list of the common logic functions and
their equivalent Boolean notation where a “ .” (a dot) means
an AND (product) operation, a “+” (plus sign) means an OR (sum)
operation, and the complement or inverse of a variable is indicated
by a bar over the variable.

Logic Function Boolean Notation

AND A.B

OR A+B

NOT A

NAND A .B

NOR A+B

DeMorgan’s Theory
DeMorgan’s Theorems are basically two sets of rules or laws
developed from the Boolean expressions for AND, OR and NOT using
two input variables, A and B. These two rules or theorems allow the
input variables to be negated and converted from one form of a
Boolean function into an opposite form.
DeMorgan’s first theorem states that two (or more) variables NOR
´ed together is the same as the two variables inverted
(Complement) and AND´ed, while the second theorem states that
two (or more) variables NAND´ed together is the same as the two
terms inverted (Complement) and OR´ed. That is replace all the OR
operators with AND operators, or all the AND operators with an OR
operators.
DeMorgan’s First Theorem
DeMorgan’s First theorem proves that when two (or more) input
variables are AND’ed and negated, they are equivalent to the OR of
the complements of the individual variables. Thus the equivalent of
the NAND function will be a negative-OR function, proving
that A.B = A+B. We can show this operation using the following
table.

Verifying DeMorgan’s First Theorem using Truth Table

Inputs Truth Table Outputs For Each Term

B A A.B A.B A B A+B

0 0 0 1 1 1 1

0 1 0 1 0 1 1

1 0 0 1 1 0 1

1 1 1 0 0 0 0

We can also show that A.B = A+B using logic gates as shown.

DeMorgan’s First Law Implementation using Logic

Gates
The top logic gate arrangement of: A.B can be implemented using a
standard NAND gate with inputs A and B. The lower logic gate
arrangement first inverts the two inputs producing A and B. These
then become the inputs to the OR gate. Therefore the output from
the OR gate becomes: A+B
Then we can see here that a standard OR gate function with
inverters (NOT gates) on each of its inputs is equivalent to
a NAND gate function. So an individual NAND gate can be
represented in this way as the equivalency of a NAND gate is a
negative-OR.

DeMorgan’s Second Theorem

DeMorgan’s Second theorem proves that when two (or more) input
variables are OR’ed and negated, they are equivalent to the AND of
the complements of the individual variables. Thus the equivalent of
the NOR function is a negative-AND function proving
that A+B = A.B, and again we can show operation this using the
following truth table.

Verifying DeMorgan’s Second Theorem using Truth

Table

Inputs Truth Table Outputs For Each Term

B A A+B A+B A B A.B

0 0 0 1 1 1 1

0 1 1 0 0 1 0

1 0 1 0 1 0 0

1 1 1 0 0 0 0

We can also show that A+B = A.B using the following logic gates
example.

DeMorgan’s Second Law Implementation using Logic

Gates
The top logic gate arrangement of: A+B can be implemented using a
standard NOR gate function using inputs A and B. The lower logic
gate arrangement first inverts the two inputs, thus
producing A and B. Thus then become the inputs to the AND gate.
Therefore the output from the AND gate becomes: A.B
Then we can see that a standard AND gate function with inverters
(NOT gates) on each of its inputs produces an equivalent output
condition to a standard NOR gate function, and an
individual NOR gate can be represented in this way as the
equivalency of a NOR gate is a negative-AND.
Although we have used DeMorgan’s theorems with only two input
variables A and B, they are equally valid for use with three, four or
more input variable expressions, for example:
For a 3-variable input

A.B.C = A+B+C
and also
A+B+C = A.B.C
For a 4-variable input

A.B.C.D = A+B+C+D
and also
A+B+C+D = A.B.C.D
and so on.

DeMorgan’s Equivalent Gates

We have seen here that by using DeMorgan’s Theorems we can
replace all of the AND (.) operators with an OR (+) and vice versa,
and then complements each of the terms or variables in the
expression by inverting it, that is 0’s to 1’s and 1’s to 0’s before
inverting the entire function.
Thus to obtain the DeMorgan equivalent for
an AND, NAND, OR or NOR gate, we simply add inverters (NOT-
gates) to all inputs and outputs and change an AND symbol to
an OR symbol or change an OR symbol to an AND symbol as shown
in the following table.

DeMorgan’s Equivalent Gates

Standard Logic Gate DeMorgan’s Equivalent Gate

Then we have seen in this tutorial about DeMorgan’s Thereom that
the complement of two (or more) AND’ed input variables is
equivalent to the OR of the complements of these variables, and
that the complement of two (or more) OR’ed variables is equivalent
to the AND of the complements of the variables as defined
by DeMorgan.