(A·B)′ = Ā + B̄ — Boolean algebra laws

coreDe Morgan on a product

Answer

verified equivalent (both sides → A′ + B′)

Why this example is worth doing

De Morgan's first law, given here in the laws reference as one axiom among many rather than as the standalone tool it also gets. What this page adds is placement: De Morgan is the only law in the standard set that changes the operator, and that is why it is the one used to convert between AND-OR, NAND-only and NOR-only implementations. The page tabulates it beside the other axioms so that a student assembling a cheat sheet sees the whole system at once, with duals paired.

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

Truth table

Truth table — columns #, A, B, F
#ABF
0001
1011
2101
3110

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)