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Boolean Algebra

The document provides an overview of Boolean algebra, detailing its basic operations (AND, OR, NOT) and secondary operations (conditional, biconditional, XOR). It outlines various laws of Boolean algebra, including associative, commutative, distributive, identity, annihilator, idempotent, absorption, complementation, double negation, De Morgan's law, and the duality principle. The document emphasizes the binary nature of Boolean variables and their representation through truth tables and arithmetic operations.

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4 views3 pages

Boolean Algebra

The document provides an overview of Boolean algebra, detailing its basic operations (AND, OR, NOT) and secondary operations (conditional, biconditional, XOR). It outlines various laws of Boolean algebra, including associative, commutative, distributive, identity, annihilator, idempotent, absorption, complementation, double negation, De Morgan's law, and the duality principle. The document emphasizes the binary nature of Boolean variables and their representation through truth tables and arithmetic operations.

Uploaded by

aryasamyadas
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Boolean Algebra

May 19, 2025

1 Operations
1.1 Basic operations
Boolean algebra only has three basic operators: conjunction, disjunction, and
negation, expressed by the corresponding binary operators AND (denoted by the
symbol ∧ or ·), OR (denoted by the symbol ∨ or +), and NOT (denoted by the
symbol ¬ or ′ ). Every operand in boolean algebra always denotes a state of TRUE
(i.e. 1) or FALSE (i.e. 0). The basic operations on Boolean variables x and y are
defined as follows:

Logical Operation Operator Notation Alternative notation


Conjunction AND x∧y x+y
Disjunction OR x∨y x·y
Negation NOT ¬x x′

The above operations can be expressed by using a truth table as follows:

x y x∧y x∨y
0 0 0 0 x ¬x
1 0 0 1 0 1
0 1 0 1 1 0
1 1 1 1

Since boolean variables only represent the values 0 and 1, they can be expressed
using ordinary arithmetic operations:

x ∧ y = xy = min(x, y)
x ∨ y = x + y − xy = max(x, y)
¬x = 1 − x

1
1.2 Secondary operations
Conditional: x → y = ¬x ∨ y (or x′ + y)
Biconditional: x ↔ y = (x ∧ y) ∨ (¬x ∧ ¬y) (or xy + x′ y ′ )
Exclusive OR (XOR): x⊕y = ¬(x ↔ y) = (x∧¬y)∨(¬x∧y) (or xy ′ +x′ y)

x y x→y x↔y x⊕y


0 0 1 0 1
1 0 0 1 0
0 1 1 1 0
1 1 1 0 1

Note: The XOR operator yields TRUE only when both operands are either
TRUE or FALSE. The XOR operator is also used to add two bianry bits.

2 Laws
2.1 Associative law

x ∨ (y ∨ z) = (x ∨ y) ∨ z x + (y + z) = (x + y) + z

x ∧ (y ∧ z) = (x ∧ y) ∧ z x · (y · z) = (x · y) · z

2.2 Commutative law

x∨y =y∨x x+y =y+x

x∧y =y∧x x·y =y·x

2.3 Distributive law

x ∧ (y ∨ z) = (x ∧ y) ∨ (x ∧ z) x · (y + z) = x · y + x · z

x ∨ (y ∧ z) = (x ∨ y) ∧ (x ∨ z) x + (y · z) = (x + y) · (x + z)

2.4 Identity law

x∨0=x x+0=x

x∧1=x x·1=x

2.5 Annihilator law

x∧0=0 x·0=0

x∨1=1 x+1=1

2
2.6 Idempotent law

x∨x=x x+x=x

x∧x=x x·x=x

2.7 Absorption law

x ∧ (x ∨ y) = x x · (x + y) = x

x ∨ (x ∧ y) = x x + (x · y) = x

2.8 Complementation law

x ∧ ¬x = 0 x · x′ = 0

x ∨ ¬x = 1 x + x′ = 1

2.9 Double negation


¬(¬x) = x (x′ )′ = x

2.10 De Morgan’s law

¬(x ∨ y) = ¬x ∧ ¬y (x + y)′ = x′ · y ′

¬(x ∧ y) = ¬x ∨ ¬y (x · y)′ = x′ + y ′

2.11 Duality principle


Every boolean expression has a dual expression which is obtained by interchanging
AND to OR, 1 to 0, and vice versa.

Consider a boolean function f (x, y) defined as

f (x, y) = x · y ′ + x′ · y + x · y · 0

If f D represents the dual function of f , then

f D (x, y) = (x + y ′ ) · (x′ + y) · (x + y + 1)

Note: The variable themselves don’t change, for example x doesn’t change to x′ ,
but only the constants and the operators change.

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