Which logic gate is celebrated in digital circuit design as a 'universal gate' because any fundamental Boolean function can be implemented solely using combinations of this gate?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. NAND gate
- Step 1: A universal logic gate is one that can emulate NOT, AND, and OR operations without requiring any other gate type.
- Step 2: Both NAND and NOR are functionally complete universal gates; tying inputs together creates an inverter (NOT), from which all other logic circuits (and full adders) can be synthesized.
Answer
NAND gate
Why not the others: 'AND gate' An AND gate alone cannot produce logical inversion (NOT) and therefore cannot form a complete functional set; 'OR gate' An OR gate alone cannot perform logical negation and cannot independently construct other logic families; 'XOR gate' An XOR gate cannot independently generate AND or OR operations without supplementary inverters.
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