Q.Draw the circuit symbol and state the truth table for NAND gate.
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The NAND Gate: The "Not-AND" That Builds Everything
Imagine you have two switches in series, controlling a bulb. The bulb lights up only when both switches are on. That's an AND gate — output 1 only when all inputs are 1.
Now imagine you take that bulb and invert its behaviour: the bulb is on except when both switches are on. That's the NAND gate. The name itself tells you: Not-AND.
NAND is the most fundamental gate in digital electronics. With enough NAND gates, you can build any other gate — AND, OR, NOT, XOR — and therefore any digital circuit. It's called a universal gate.
The Precise Definition
A NAND gate has two or more inputs and one output. The output is:
- 0 (LOW) only when all inputs are 1 (HIGH)
- 1 (HIGH) for every other combination of inputs
In other words: it's the exact opposite of an AND gate.
Truth Table (2-input NAND)
| Input A | Input B | Output (A NAND B) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | 1 | 0 |
Notice the pattern: three rows give output 1, only one row gives output 0. That single 0 happens when both inputs are 1.
The Boolean Expression
If AND is written as A⋅B, then NAND is its negation:
Y=A⋅B
You read this as "Y equals NOT (A AND B)". The bar over the whole expression means the negation applies to the AND result, not to individual inputs.
A common mistake is to write A⋅B for NAND. That's wrong — that expression is actually a NOR gate. NAND is A⋅B, not A⋅B. The bar covers the entire AND operation.
Why It Matters …
A NAND gate performs AND followed by NOT, which is why its symbol is the standard AND shape with an inversion bubble, and its output goes LOW only when both inputs are HIGH. …
NAND = AND + NOT, so its symbol is the AND-gate shape with an inversion bubble at the output; it outputs 0 only when both inputs are 1.
Circuit symbol: The NAND gate is built from the standard AND-gate symbol — a shape with a flat back (where the two inputs A and B enter) and a rounded/D-shaped front — with a small circle (the inversion 'bubble') added at the output tip, exactly the way the OR gate becomes the NOR gate. The output Y is taken beyond this bubble.
Boolean expression: Y = (A·B)' = NOT(A AND B).
Truth table:
A | B | Y
0 | 0 | 1
0 | 1 | 1
1 | 0 | 1
1 | 1 | 0
…
- CBSE 2025Set D1 markMCQQ.Boolean expression of NAND gate is (A) (A.B)‾ = Y (B) (A+B)‾ = Y (C) A.B = Y (D) A+B = Y
›Reveal solutionSolution
NAND = NOT of AND, so Y = (A·B)‾ (overbar over the whole product A·B).
A NAND gate produces the logical AND of the inputs and then inverts it. Its Boolean expression is
Y = (A·B)‾
…
- CBSE 2023Set TERM21 markMCQQ.Identify the logic operation carried out by the given circuit :(a) AND gate(b) NOT gate(c) NAND gate (d)(OR)gate.
›Reveal solutionSolution
An AND-shape with a bubble at its output is a NAND gate; using single-input NAND gates as inverters followed by a third NAND gate on the inverted signals implements Y=A+B by De Morgan's theorem — an OR gate built entirely from NAND gates.
An 'AND-shaped body with a bubble at the output' is the standard symbol for a NAND gate. Here:
- Input A alone feeds a NAND gate — with a single input effectively tied to itself, this NAND gate acts as an inverter, giving output A.
- Input B alone similarly feeds another NAND gate acting as an inverter, giving B.
- These two inverted outputs, A and B, are fed into a third NAND gate, whose output is …
- CBSE 2022Set I1 markMCQQ.Symbol of NAND gate is (A) AND-gate shape, no output bubble (B) OR-gate shape, no output bubble (C) triangle (buffer) with output bubble (D) AND-gate shape with output bubble
›Reveal solutionSolution
NAND = AND-gate symbol with a small inversion bubble at the output.
A NAND gate performs AND followed by NOT: its output is the inverse of the AND output, Y = (A·B)′. The standard symbol is therefore the flat-backed, rounded-nose AND-gate shape with a small circle (inversion bubble) added at the output.
…
- CBSE 2022Set HE2171 markQ.Fill in the blank: The Boolean expression of NAND gate is ______.
›Reveal solutionSolution
A NAND gate is an AND gate followed by a NOT gate, so its Boolean expression is Y=A⋅B.
A NAND (NOT-AND) gate first performs the AND operation on its inputs A and B (giving A⋅B) and then inverts (complements) the result. So its output is 1 for every input combination except A=B=1, for which it is 0 — exactly the compl …
- CBSE 2022Set TERM21 markMCQQ.Output of the logic circuit represent: (a)(OR)gate(b) AND gate(c) NAND gate(d) NOT gate
›Reveal solutionSolution
Two NOT gates (each a NOR gate with its inputs tied together) feeding a third NOR gate realise Y=Aˉ+Bˉ=A⋅B (De Morgan's theorem) — an AND gate.
From the described circuit: the first bubble-output OR-shaped gate has both its inputs tied to A, so it computes A+A=Aˉ (this is exactly how a NOR gate is used to build a NOT gate). Likewise the second gate, with both inputs tied to B, outputs Bˉ. These two outputs, Aˉ and Bˉ, feed a third bubble-output (NOR) gate, giving: …
- CBSE 2021Set TERM21 markMCQQ.The output obtained through given logic circuit is equivalent to: (a)(OR)gate(b) AND gate(c) NOT gate(d) NAND gate
›Reveal solutionSolution
Two NAND gates used as inverters (each fed the same input to both its pins) produce A and B; a third NAND gate combining these gives Y=A+B — the standard 3-NAND realisation of an OR gate.
A 2-input bubbled (NAND) gate, when both its inputs are tied to the same signal, acts as a NOT gate (since A⋅A=A). So the first gate outputs A and the second outputs B.
…
- CBSE 2020Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.The given electrical network is equivalent to : [figure: two 2-input NAND gates in a first stage — the top gate's two inputs are both drawn from a single line carrying signal A, the bottom gate's two inputs are both drawn from a single line carrying signal B — whose outputs both feed the two inputs of a third NAND gate, whose output is labelled Y](a) NAND gate (b)(OR)gate(c) NOT gate(d) Ex-OR gate
›Reveal solutionSolution
Tying both inputs of a NAND gate together makes it a NOT gate; feeding A and B into a third NAND gate and applying De Morgan's theorem gives Y=A+B, an OR gate.
Working
A NAND gate with both inputs shorted to the same signal X computes X⋅X=X — i.e. it behaves exactly like a NOT gate.
In this network, the first NAND gate has both inputs tied to A, giving output A; the second NAND gate has both inputs tied to B, giving output B.
…
- CBSE 2019Set ANNUAL1 markQ.Identify the logic gate and write its Boolean expression.
›Reveal solutionSolution
An AND-shaped symbol with a bubble at its output is an AND gate followed by inversion — i.e. a NAND gate, Y=A.B.
The symbol described is the standard AND-gate body (flat back, rounded/pointed front) with inputs A and B. A small circle ("bubble") at the output tip is the universal symbol for logical inversion (NOT). An AND gate followed by a NOT (inversion) is, by definition, a NAND gate ("NOT-AND").
Its truth table gives HIGH output for every input combination except when both inputs are HIGH:
| A | B | Y | …
- CBSE 2019Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.The Boolean expression for NAND gate is -(a) Y = A + B(b) Y = A.B(c) Y = A + B (bar)(d) Y = A.B (bar)
›Reveal solutionSolution
NAND = NOT of AND, so Y = (A·B)‾.
The NAND (Not-AND) gate first performs the AND operation A·B and then inverts the result. Hence its Boolean expression is
Y=A⋅B.
…
- CBSE 2018Set ANNUAL1 markQ.Draw the symbol of NAND gate.
›Reveal solutionSolution
A NAND gate's symbol is simply the AND gate's symbol with a small bubble (circle) added at its output, since NAND = NOT(AND).
A NAND gate is obtained by connecting a NOT gate to the output of an AND gate — its output is the complement of the AND output: Y=A⋅B.
Its standard logic symbol is therefore drawn as:
- A D-shaped body (flat vertical edge on the left where the two inputs A and B enter, and a rounded/curved edge on the right, exactly like the AND gate symbol). …
- CBSE 2018Set ANNUAL1 markQ.Write the truth table of two inputs NAND gate.
›Reveal solutionSolution
NAND = AND followed by NOT — output is 0 only when both inputs are 1.
A NAND gate is a combination of an AND gate followed by a NOT gate; its output Y is the complement of the AND of its inputs:
Y=A⋅B
For two inputs A and B, the output is LOW (0) only when both inputs are HIGH (1); for every other input combination the output is HIGH (1). This makes NAND a universal gate — any logic function (AND, OR, NOT) can be built using only NAND gates. …
- CBSE 2017Set ANNUAL1 markQ.Give the logic symbol of NAND gate.
›Reveal solutionSolution
NAND = AND followed by NOT; its symbol is the standard AND-gate 'D' shape with inputs A, B on the flat side and a small circle at the pointed output end marking inversion.
A NAND (NOT-AND) gate performs the AND operation and then inverts (complements) the result. Its logic symbol is drawn as:
- Two (or more) input lines, A and B, entering the flat left side of a D-shaped (rounded) body — the same body shape used for an AND gate.
- A small circle ('bubble'), denoting inversion, placed at the pointed output tip of the D-shape.
- A single output line Y leaving from that bubble. …
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