A·(A + B) = A — Boolean algebra laws

exam standarddual of absorption

Answer

verified equivalent (both sides → A)

Why this example is worth doing

The dual of absorption, and the entry point for the duality principle itself: swap every AND with OR and every 0 with 1 in any valid identity and the result is also valid. That single observation halves the number of laws to memorise, and the page presents the whole axiom set in dual pairs for that reason. The caution it also carries is that the dual of an expression is not its complement — f^d(x) = f′(x̄) — which is the confusion that produces wrong minimal POS results.

Try your own input in the Boolean laws & theorems. Every law, both duals, each with a truth-table proof you can check.

How the answer is reached

The law

A · (A + B)ABoth sides have the same truth table over the union of their variables.

Truth table

Truth table — columns #, A, B, F
#ABF
0000
1010
2101
3111

Compare with

Open the Boolean laws & theorems

This input is entered in the tool itself — it is too rich for a link to carry.

Note:

Notation this page assumes

  • Symbols: · is AND, + is OR, ⊕ is XOR, a prime or an overline is NOT. The field also takes ∧ ∨ ¬ ~ ! & | and the words.
  • Operator precedence, tightest first: NOT, then AND (including juxtaposition), then XOR/XNOR, then NAND/NOR, then OR, then IMPLIES, then IFF.
  • In a minterm index the first variable is the most significant bit, so over [A, B, C] minterm 5 is A·B̄·C.

Sources

  • Boole, An Investigation of the Laws of Thought (1854)
  • Shannon, “A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits” (1938)