PHYS 347 Electronics I

A X
The Inverter

The inverter performs the Boolean NOT operation. When

the input is LOW, the output is HIGH; when the input is
HIGH, the output is LOW.

Input Output
A X
LOW (0) HIGH (1)
HIGH (1) LOW(0)

The NOT operation (complement) is shown with an overbar.

Thus, the Boolean expression for an inverter is X = A.
 PHYS 347 Electronics I
A X
The Inverter

Example waveforms:
A
X
A group of inverters can be used to form the 1’s
complement of a binary number: Binary number
1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1

0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0
1’s complement
 PHYS 347 Electronics I
A A &
The AND Gate X X
B B
The AND gate produces a HIGH output when all inputs are
HIGH; otherwise, the output is LOW. For a 2-input gate, the
truth table is
Inputs Output
A B X
0 0 0
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 1
The AND operation is usually shown with a dot between the
variables but it may be implied (no dot). Thus, the AND
operation is written as X = A .B or X = AB.
 PHYS 347 Electronics I
A X A & X
The AND Gate
B B
Example waveforms:
A
B

X
The AND operation is used in computer programming as a
selective mask. If you want to retain certain bits of a binary
number but reset the other bits to 0, you could set a mask
with 1’s in the position of the retained bits.
If the binary number 10100011 is ANDed with
the mask 00001111, what is the result? 00000011
 PHYS 347 Electronics I
The AND Gate
 PHYS 347 Electronics I

The OR Gate A X A ≥1 X
B B
The OR gate produces a HIGH output if any input is HIGH; if
all inputs are LOW, the output is LOW. For a 2-input gate,
the truth table is
Inputs Output
A B X
0 0 0
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 1

The OR operation is shown with a plus sign (+) between the

variables. Thus, the OR operation is written as X = A + B.
 PHYS 347 Electronics I

The OR Gate A X A ≥1 X
B B
Example waveforms:
A
B

X
The OR operation can be used in computer programming to
set certain bits of a binary number to 1.
 PHYS 347 Electronics I
The OR Gate
 PHYS 347 Electronics I

The NAND Gate A X A & X

B B
The NAND gate produces a LOW output when all inputs
are HIGH; otherwise, the output is HIGH. For a 2-input
gate, the truth table is
Inputs Output
A B X
0 0 1
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 0

The NAND operation is shown with a dot between the

variables and an overbar covering them. Thus, the NAND
operation is written as X = A .B (Alternatively, X = AB.)
 PHYS 347 Electronics I

The NAND Gate A X A & X

B B
Example waveforms:
A
B

X
The NAND gate is particularly useful because it is a
“universal” gate – all other basic gates can be constructed
from NAND gates.
How would you connect a 2-input NAND gate
to form a basic inverter?
 PHYS 347 Electronics I

The NOR Gate A X A ≥1 X

B B
The NOR gate produces a LOW output if any input is
HIGH; if all inputs are HIGH, the output is LOW. For a 2-
input gate, the truth table is
Inputs Output
A B X
0 0 1
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 0
The NOR operation is shown with a plus sign (+) between
the variables and an overbar covering them. Thus, the NOR
operation is written as X = A + B.
 PHYS 347 Electronics I

The NOR Gate A X A ≥1 X

B B
Example waveforms:
A
B

X
The NOR operation will produce a LOW if any input is HIGH.
+5.0 V

When is the LED is ON for the circuit 330 W

shown?
A
The LED will be on when B X
C
any of the four inputs are D

HIGH.
 PHYS 347 Electronics I

The XOR Gate A X A =1 X

B B
The XOR gate produces a HIGH output only when both
inputs are at opposite logic levels. The truth table is
Inputs Output
A B X
0 0 0
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 0
The XOR operation is written as X = AB + AB.
Alternatively, it can be written with a circled plus sign
between the variables as X = A + B.
 PHYS 347 Electronics I

The XOR Gate A X A =1 X

B B
Example waveforms:
A
B

X
Notice that the XOR gate will produce a HIGH only when
exactly one input is HIGH.
If the A and B waveforms are both inverted for the
above waveforms, how is the output affected?
There is no change in the output.
 PHYS 347 Electronics I

The XNOR Gate A X A =1 X

B B
The XNOR gate produces a HIGH output only when both
inputs are at the same logic level. The truth table is
Inputs Output
A B X
0 0 1
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 1
The XNOR operation shown as X = AB + AB. Alternatively,
the XNOR operation can be shown with a circled dot
between the variables. Thus, it can be shown as X = A . B.
 PHYS 347 Electronics I

The XNOR Gate A X A =1 X

B B
Example waveforms:
A
B

X
Notice that the XNOR gate will produce a HIGH when both
inputs are the same. This makes it useful for comparison
functions.
If the A waveform is inverted but B remains the
same, how is the output affected?
The output will be inverted.
 PHYS 347 Electronics I
Boolean Addition
In Boolean algebra, a variable is a symbol used to represent
an action, a condition, or data. A single variable can only
have a value of 1 or 0.
The complement represents the inverse of a variable and is
indicated with an overbar. Thus, the complement of A is A.
A literal is a variable or its complement.
Addition is equivalent to the OR operation. The sum term is
1 if one or more of the literals are 1. The sum term is zero
only if each literal is 0.
Determine the values of A, B, and C that make the
sum term of the expression A + B + C = 0?
Each literal must = 0; therefore A = 1, B = 0 and
C = 1.
 PHYS 347 Electronics I

Boolean Multiplication

In Boolean algebra, multiplication is equivalent to the AND

operation. The product of literals forms a product term. The
product term will be 1 only if all of the literals are 1.

What are the values of the A, B and C if the

product term of A.B.C = 1?
Each literal must = 1; therefore A = 1, B = 0 and
C = 0.
 PHYS 347 Electronics I
Commutative Laws
The commutative laws are applied to addition
and multiplication. For addition, the commutative
law states
In terms of the result, the order in which
variables are ORed makes no difference.
A+B=B+A
For multiplication, the commutative law states
In terms of the result, the order in which
variables are ANDed makes no difference.
AB = BA
 PHYS 347 Electronics I
Associative Laws

The associative laws are also applied to addition and

multiplication. For addition, the associative law states
When ORing more than two variables, the result is the
same regardless of the grouping of the variables.

A + (B +C) = (A + B) + C

For multiplication, the associative law states

When ANDing more than two variables, the result is
the same regardless of the grouping of the variables.

A(BC) = (AB)C
 PHYS 347 Electronics I

Distributive Law

The distributive law is the factoring law. A common

variable can be factored from an expression just as in
ordinary algebra. That is
AB + AC = A(B+ C)
The distributive law can be illustrated with equivalent
circuits:
A
AB
B B
B+ C
C X
X A
A AC
C
A(B+ C) AB + AC
 PHYS 347 Electronics I

Rules of Boolean Algebra

1. A + 0 = A 7. A . A = A
2. A + 1 = 1 8. A . A = 0
=
3. A . 0 = 0 9. A = A
4. A . 1 = A 10. A + AB = A
5. A + A = A 11. A + AB = A + B
6. A + A = 1 12. (A + B)(A + C) = A + BC
 PHYS 347 Electronics I
Rules of Boolean Algebra
Rule 12, which states that (A + B)(A + C) = A + BC,
can be proven by applying earlier rules as follows:

(A + B)(A + C) = AA + AC + AB + BC
= A + AC + AB + BC
= A(1 + C + B) + BC
= A . 1 + BC
= A + BC
 PHYS 347 Electronics I
DeMorgan’s Theorem
DeMorgan’s 1st Theorem
The complement of a product of variables
is equal to the sum of the complemented
variables. AB = A + B
Applying DeMorgan’s first theorem to
gates:
A A Inputs Output
AB A+B
B B
A B AB A + B
NAND Negative-OR 0 0 1 1
0 1 1 1
1 0 1 1
1 1 0 0
 PHYS 347 Electronics I

DeMorgan’s Theorem
DeMorgan’s 2nd Theorem
The complement of a sum of variables is
equal to the product of the complemented
variables. A + B = A . B
Applying DeMorgan’s second theorem to
A gates: A Inputs Output
A+B AB
B B
A B A + B AB
NOR Negative-AND 0 0 1 1
0 1 0 0
1 0 0 0
1 1 0 0
 PHYS 347 Electronics I

DeMorgan’s Theorem

Apply DeMorgan’s theorem to remove the

overbar covering both terms from the
expression X = C + D.

To apply DeMorgan’s theorem to the expression,

you can break the overbar covering both terms
and change the sign between the terms. This
results in
=.
X = C D. Deleting the double bar gives X = C . D.
 PHYS 347 Electronics I
Boolean Analysis of Logic Circuits
Combinational logic circuits can be analyzed by writing
the expression for each gate and combining the
expressions according to the rules for Boolean algebra.
Apply Boolean algebra to derive the expression for
X.
Write the expression for each gate:
A (A + B )
B
C (A + B )
C X = C (A + B )+ D
D

Applying DeMorgan’s theorem and the distribution

law: X = C (A B) + D = A B C + D
 PHYS 347 Electronics I
SOP and POS forms
Boolean expressions can be written in the sum-of-products
form (SOP) or in the product-of-sums form (POS). These
forms can simplify the implementation of combinational
logic. In both forms, an overbar cannot extend over more
than one variable.
An expression is in SOP form when two or more product
terms are summed as in the following examples:
ABC+AB ABC+CD CD+E
An expression is in POS form when two or more sum terms
are multiplied as in the following examples:
(A + B)(A + C) (A + B + C)(B + D) (A + B)C
 PHYS 347 Electronics I
SOP Standard form
In SOP standard form, every variable in the domain must
appear in each term. This form is useful for constructing
truth tables.
You can expand a nonstandard term to standard form by
multiplying the term by a term consisting of the sum of the
missing variable and its complement.

Convert X = A B + A B C to standard form.

The first term does not include the variable C.
Therefore, multiply it by the (C + C), which = 1:
X = A B (C + C) + A B C
=ABC+ABC+ABC
 PHYS 347 Electronics I
POS Standard form
In POS standard form, every variable in the domain must
appear in each sum term of the expression.
You can expand a nonstandard POS expression to standard
form by adding the product of the missing variable and its
complement and applying rule 12, which states that
(A + B)(A + C) = A + BC.

Convert X = (A + B)(A + B + C) to standard form.

The first sum term does not include the variable
C. Therefore, add C C and expand the result by
rule 12.
X = (A + B + C C)(A + B + C)
= (A +B + C )(A + B + C)(A + B + C)