Minterms and Maxterms

• For a function of n variables, a product term in which each of the n variables appear once is called a Minterm
  • $f(x_1,x_2,x_3,x_4)$ of 4 variables, $x_1^{\prime }{x}_2{x}_3{x}_4$ is a minterm
    • $x_1^{\prime }{x}_2{x}_4$ and $x_3{x}_4$ are not
• For a function of n variables, a sum term in which each of the n variables appears once is called a Maxterm
  • $f(x_1,x_2,x_3)$ of 3 variables, $x_1^{\prime }+x_2+x_3$ is a Maxterm
  • $x_1+x_3$ and $x_2+x_3$ are not
• Minterms are denoted by a lower case $m$
• Maxterms are denoted by an upper case $M$