1.

Commutative laws

X+Y =Y+X

X•Y =Y•X

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2. Associative laws

X + (Y + Z) = (X + Y) + Z

X • (Y • Z) = (X • Y) • Z

3. Distributive laws

X • (Y + Z) = X•Y + X•Z

X + Y•Z = (X + Y) • (X + Z)
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4. De Morgans laws

(X + Y) = X •Y

(X • Y) = X + Y

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5. Laws of absorption

X + X•Y = X

X • (X + Y) = X

6. Laws of tautology

X+X =X

X•X =X
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7. Law of complementation

X+X = 1

X •X = 0

8. Other identities

X+1 = 1
X+0 = X
X•1 = X
X•0 = 0 5
9. Involution law

(a) = a

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Using Venn Diagrams highlighting Boolean operations

A·B

A B

This is the region where A and B are

True
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A+B

A B

The shaded region represents when A or B are true

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Derivation of some of laws

Distributive laws
X • (Y + Z) = X•Y + X•Z
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X • (Y + Z) Expand bracket

X•Y +X•Z
1 2

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 X + Y•Z = (X + Y) • (X + Z)

X + Y•Z but X = X•X

X•X + Y•Z = X•X + Y•Z

Apply DE-Morgans Law

X•X + Y•Z (X + X) •(Y + Z)

X•Y +X•Z +X•Y +X•Z X•Y +X•Z

X•Y +X•Z (X+Y) + (X+Z) ANS

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De Morgans laws
(X + Y) = X •Y

TO SHOW THIS
PROVE (X  Y)  XY  1 AND (X  Y)  XY  0
THIS WILL SHOW THAT
(X+Y) IS THE COMPLEMENT OF X·Y
PROVING DE-MORGANS LAW

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X  ( X  Y )  1  ( X  ( X  Y ))
 (X  X)  (X  (X  Y)) Expand brackets

 XX  0  XY  0  X X  X Y
 (X  XY)  (X  X Y )
 X(1  Y)  X(1  Y )
 X X
=1
SO FAR WE HAVE SHOWN X  (X  Y )  1
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(X  Y)  X  Y
BUT

(X  Y)  (X  Y)(X  Y)  (X  Y)  X  (X  Y)  Y
SUBSTITUTING

(X  Y)(X  Y)  (X  Y)  X  (X  Y)  Y  X  Y
FACTORISING GIVES

 ((X Y)  X)((X Y)  Y) BUT EACH TERM IS 1(PREVIOUS

SLIDE)

=1.1

=1
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(X  Y)  X Y  X(X Y)  Y(X Y)
 (X X)Y  X(Y Y)
 0Y  X0
 00
0
(X  Y)  XY  1 AND (X  Y)  XY  0
1+0 = 1 AND 1·0 = 0 OR 0+1 = 1 AND 0·1 = 0

SO WE HAVE SHOWN (X + Y) IS THE COMPLEMENT OF XY

THEREFORE (X + Y) = X·Y

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Using a Venn Diagram we can show De Morgans law

(X + Y) = X •Y

X Y

Purple shaded area is everything except X or Y i.e. NOT (X or Y)

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X

X Y

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Y

X Y

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If we AND X and Y this represents the areas which are shaded on both of
previous Venn diagrams giving

X Y

Which is identical to the Venn diagram for (X + Y) slide 15

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 Laws of absorption X + X•Y = X

X + X•Y = (X + X•Y)
= X(1 + Y)
= X(1)
=X

X • (X + Y) = X
X • (X + Y) EXPAND GIVES XX + XY
BUT XX = X SUBSTITUTING GIVES X + XY
= (X + XY)
= X(1 + Y) = X(1) = X
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Using a Venn Diagram we can show the law of absorption

X AND Y is shown as the shaded area( BOTH X and Y are TRUE)

X Y

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X is represented on the Venn Diagram (X ONLY TRUE)

X Y

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To OR the two area we show this on the resultant Venn Diagram by
shading the common shaded areas in both diagrams where we have

X Y

So we see that XY + X is simply X

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We can use the Boolean laws to simplify our Boolean expressions
This requires us to find patterns within the expression so that we can
factorise or look for ways we can apply our Boolean laws e.g. A + A’
thus reducing the size of the Boolean expressions

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Simplify A•B•C + A •B• C + A•B•C using the laws of Boolean
algebra
using associative law we have:-

A•B•C + (A •B• C + A•B•C)

using the distributive law:-

= A•B•C + A •B(C + C)

= A•B•C + A •B(1)
and using distributive law we have

= A(B•C + B)
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A(B•C + B)

BUT B = BB +BB + BC

WE HAVE A(BB + BC + BB +B C)
= A((B + B)(B + C))
= A((1)(B+C))
= A(B + C)

so therefore A•B•C + A•B•C + A•B•C = A•(B + C)

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