Commutative law statement check Evaluate the statement: “The commutative law of Boolean addition states that A + B = A × B.” Decide whether it is True or False and justify your choice.
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ATrue
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BFalse
Answer
Correct Answer: False
Explanation
Introduction / Context:Boolean algebra includes several fundamental laws: commutative, associative, distributive, identity, null, idempotent, complement, absorption, and De Morgan’s laws. Misstatements of these laws can lead to incorrect simplifications and faulty circuit designs.
Given Data / Assumptions:
- Target statement: “A + B = A × B” as a supposed commutative law.
- Operators: “+” is OR, “×” (or adjacency) is AND.
Concept / Approach:The true commutative laws are: A + B = B + A and A * B = B * A. They state that operand order can be exchanged without changing the result. They do not equate OR to AND; those are distinct operations with different truth behaviors.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Write the correct forms: A + B = B + A; A * B = B * A.Compare to the claim A + B = A * B: this would require OR and AND to produce identical outputs for all inputs.Test with A = 0, B = 1: A + B = 1; A * B = 0 → not equal.Therefore, the statement is false.Verification / Alternative check:Truth table over inputs 00, 01, 10, 11 shows OR and AND differ in three of the four rows, confirming the inequality for general Boolean variables.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
- True: Incorrect; it contradicts basic Boolean definitions.
Common Pitfalls:Confusing commutativity (order) with equivalence of operations; mixing up symbols; or overlooking that different logic operations cannot be interchanged unless constrained to special cases (e.g., constants).
Final Answer:False