 The variables (i.e.

the letters) used in

Boolean logic are used to represent these
truth values and can therefore only take one
of two states, or values. These are regarded
as opposites, and as well as being described
as true and false, can also be described
as 0 and 1, or on and off. For example, you
will find that some power switches are
labelled 0 and 1 rather than on and off.
 These different names mean the same thing,
and are often used interchangeably, such
that true = 1 = on and false = 0 = off.
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 Boolean Algebra
Binary Signals
Digital logic hides the analog world by mapping the
infinite set of real values into 2 subsets (0 and 1).
Recap; A logic value, 0 or 1, is often called a binary digit
(bit).
When using electronic circuits, digital designers often use
the words “LOW” and “HIGH”, in place of “0” and “1”.
The assignment of 0 to LOW and 1 to HIGH is called
positive logic. The opposite assignment is called negative
logic.
Other technologies can be used to represent bits with
physical states.

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•In 1854, George Boole invented a two-valued algebraic
system, now called Boolean Algebra.
•Using this algebra, one can formulate propositions that are

true or false, combine them to make new propositions and

determine if the new propositions are true or false.
•We use a symbolic variable (X) to represent the condition

of a logic signal, which is in one of two possible values.

•X has the value “0” for one of these conditions and “1” for

the other.

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 Boolean Algebra is the mathematics we use
to analyze 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.

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 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.
 They represent ways of using simple circuitry components
to create input / output devices that function exactly as
Boolean algebra operators.

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 Boolean Algebra Operations
 The basic operations of Boolean algebra are

as follows:
 Conjunction or AND operation
 Disjunction or OR operation
 Negation or Not operation

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 Operator Symbol Precedence
NOT ‘ (or) ¬ Highest
AND . (or) ∧ Middle
OR + (or) ∨ Lowest

Suppose A and B are two Boolean variables, then we can define

the three operations as;

A conjunction B or A AND B, satisfies A ∧ B = True, if A = B =

True or else A ∧ B = False.
A disjunction B or A OR B, satisfies A ∨ B = False, if A = B =
False, else A ∨ B = True.
Negation A or ¬A satisfies ¬A = False, if A = True and ¬A = True
if A = False
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 A logical statement that results in a Boolean value,
either be True or False, is a Boolean expression.
Sometimes, synonyms are used to express the
statement such as ‘Yes’ for ‘True’ and ‘No’ for ‘False’.
Also, 1 and 0 are used for digital circuits for True and
False, respectively.
 Boolean expressions are the statements that use logical

operators, i.e., AND, OR, XOR and NOT. Thus, if we

write X AND Y = True, then it is a Boolean expression.

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 For instance;
 A simple logic gate takes two inputs (two electrical
connections) and generates one output (one electrical
connection).
 Each input will either be on or off, meaning it carries
voltage or does not.
 The output will also be either on or off.
 A particular gate performs the algebraic function that
corresponds to it's name.
 For example, an AND gate will generate a positive
(on / true) output if and only if both of its inputs are
on.
 If only one of its input's are on, or neither of them
are, it will generate no output (false / off).

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  Another example is the OR gate, which will generate a
true output if either one, or both of it's input's are on.
 Each particular type of logic gate has a predetermined set

of possible input / output combinations.

 This set of combinations is conveniently illustrated by
what is called a truth table.
 For example, the following truth tables illustrates every
possible state for a simple AND, OR and NOT gates

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Gates - Three basic gates (AND, OR, NOT) are
sufficient to build any combinational digital logic
system.

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AND operator: the relationship between the semantic
and logical operator.
Consider:
If the car is fueled AND the engine works,
then the engine will start

 AND means that both conditions

must be true in order for the
conclusion to be true

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 We now have two ways of representing an AND gate,
the truth table and the circuit diagram.
 However, there is a third way of representing this
information - a symbolic way - that will take us
toward Boolean algebra.
 Let us consider our variables, A, B and C to be
algebraic variables, but algebraic variables that can
only take on two values, 0 and 1.
 Then we represent the AND function symbolically in
either of two ways.
C = A·B or C = AB

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 Truth Table: The truth table is a table that gives all the
possible values of logical variables and the
combination of the variables. It is possible to convert
the Boolean equation into a truth table.
 The number of rows in the truth table should be equal

to 2n, where “n” is the number of variables in the

equation. For example, if a Boolean equation consists
of 3 variables, then the number of rows in the truth
table is 8. (i.e.,) 23 = 8.

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 Boolean Algebra Truth Table
Now, if we express the above operations in
a truth table, we get;
A B A∧B A∨B
True True True True
True False False True
False True False True
False False False False

A ¬A
True False
False True

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 A truth table shows how a logic circuit's output
responds to various combinations of the inputs, using
logic 1 for true and logic 0 for false

AND Operator
Truth Table

A B Output
0 0 0
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 1

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  Standard symbol for AND gate
A For digital logic:
Output
Inputs
True = 1 is 5 volts
B False = 0 is 0 volts

• AND gates can be built with any number of inputs

• Consider the symbol for the 4-input AND gate

A
F F is true only when
B
C all the inputs are
D true (1’s)
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 Assume you have an AND gate with two inputs, A and
B. Determine the output for the following cases.
i) A=1, B=0
ii) A=0, B=1
iii) If either input is zero, what is the output?
iv) A = 1, B = 1

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 Another basic operator is the OR
 Consider:
If I have cash OR a credit card,
then I can pay the bill
 OR works such that the output is true, if either of the
two inputs is true
OR Operator: Truth Table
A B Output
0 0 0
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 1
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Assume you have an OR gate with two inputs, A and B.
Determine the output for the following cases.
i) A = 1, B = 0
ii) A = 0, B = 1
iii) If either input is one, what is the output?

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 Following are the important rules used in Boolean
algebra.
 Variable used can have only two values. Binary 1 for

HIGH and Binary 0 for LOW.

 The complement of a variable is represented by an

overbar.
 OR-ing of the variables is represented by a plus (+)

sign between them. For example, the OR-ing of A, B,

and C is represented as A + B + C.
 Logical AND-ing of the two or more variables is

represented by writing a dot between them, such as

A.B.C. Sometimes, the dot may be omitted like ABC.

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 There are six types of Boolean algebra laws. They are:
• Commutative law
• Associative law
• Distributive law
• AND law
• OR law
• Inversion law
 Those six laws are explained in detail here.

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 Commutative Law
 Any binary operation which satisfies the

following expression is referred to as a

commutative operation. Commutative law
states that changing the sequence of the
variables does not have any effect on the
output of a logic circuit.

 A. B = B. A
 A + B = B + A

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 Associative Law
 It states that the order in which the logic

operations are performed is irrelevant as

their effect is the same.
 ( A. B ). C = A . ( B . C )
 ( A + B ) + C = A + ( B + C)
 Distributive Law
 Distributive law states the following

conditions:
 A. ( B + C) = (A. B) + (A. C)
 A + (B. C) = (A + B) . ( A + C)

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 AND Law
 These laws use the AND operation. Therefore they are

called AND laws.

 A .0 = 0
 A.1=A
 A. A = A
 A.A = 0
 OR Law
 These laws use the OR operation. Therefore they are

called OR laws.
 A +0=A
 A+1=1
 A+A=A
 A+A=A
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 Inversion Law
 In Boolean algebra, the inversion law states that double

inversion of variable results in the original variable

itself.
 A =A
 Boolean Algebra Theorems
 The two important theorems which are extremely used

in Boolean algebra are De Morgan’s First law and De

Morgan’s second law. These two theorems are used to
change the Boolean expression. This theorem basically
helps to reduce the given Boolean expression in the
simplified form.

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 These two De Morgan’s laws are used to change the
expression from one form to another form. Now, let us
discuss these two theorems in detail.
 De Morgan’s First Law:

 De Morgan’s First Law states that (A.B)’ = A’+B’.

 The first law states that the complement of the product

of the variables is equal to the sum of their individual
complements of a variable.

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 A B A’ B’ (A.B)’ A’+B’

0 0 1 1 1 1

0 1 1 0 1 1

1 0 0 1 1 1

1 1 0 0 0 0

The last two columns show that (A.B)’ = A’+B’.

Hence, De Morgan’s First Law is proved.

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I beg to stop!

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