Concept

NAND logic

Overview

The NAND Boolean function has the property of functional completeness. This means that any Boolean expression can be re-expressed by an equivalent expression utilizing only NAND operations. For example, the function NOT(x) may be equivalently expressed as NAND(x,x). In the field of digital electronic circuits, this implies that it is possible to implement any Boolean function using just NAND gates.

The mathematical proof for this was published by Henry M. Sheffer in 1913 in the Transactions of the American Mathematical Society (Sheffer 1913). A similar case applies to the NOR function, and this is referred to as NOR logic.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

Related ideas

• Logical NOR
• Sheffer stroke
• CMOS
• De Morgan's laws
• Boolean function
• Henry M. Sheffer
• Multiplexer
• NOR logic

Place in the tradition

Part of Logic gate.

Explore NAND logic in the interactive graph →