A minor project report on

LIGHT DETECTOR USING NAND GATE

Submitted
In the partial fulfillment of the requirements for

DIGITAL LOGIC DESIGN

By

A.SOWJANYA (REG. NO: 181FA04242)

K.BHARGAV (REG. NO: 181FA04262)
K.SUMANTH (REG. NO: 181FA04263)

Under the guidance of

Mr. S. V. Ramakrishna, Associate Professor

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE & ENGINEERING

Vignan’s Foundation for Science,Technology& Research

Deemed to be University

Vadlamudi, Guntur – 522213,INDIA

November 2019
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DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE & ENGINEEING

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the report entitled “LIGHT DETECTOR USING NAND GATE” is
submitted by “A.SOWJANYA (181FA04242), K.BHARGAV (181FA04262),
K.SUMANTH (181FA04263)” in the partial fulfillment of course work of digital logic
design as a minor project, carried out in the department of CSE, VFSTR deemed to be
university.

SIGNATURE SIGNATURE

Dr. VenkatesuluDondeti, Mr.S.V.Ramakrishna,

HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT

Professor Associate Professor
Department of CSE Department of CSE

Submitted for the External Review held on ……………………….

Internal Examiner External Examiner

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 DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the minor project entitled “LIGHT DETECTOR USING NAND
GATE” submitted for the DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND
ENGINEERING. This dissertation is our original work and the project has not formed the
basis for the award of any degree, associate ship and fellowship or any other similar titles and
no part of it has been published or sent for publication at the time of submission.

By

A.SOWJANYA (181FA04242)

K.BHARGAV (181FA04262)

K.SUMANTH (181FA04263)

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 INDEX

TITLE PAGENO

ABSTRACT 5

INTRODUCTION 6

COMPONENTS 7

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM 10

WORKING 11

RESULT 12

APPLICATIONS 13

BIBLOGRAPHY 13

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 ABSTRACT

In this project, we will build a light detector circuit using a NAND gate. A light
detector circuit is a circuit that can detect light, when a bright light shines on the circuit, such
as from a flashlight, we will make it so that a LED turns on.

The circuit is very basic. The component that will allow us to detect light is a photo-
resistor. We will use a photo-resistor's light-sensing ability to detect whether the circuit is
exposed to darkness or bright light. How this works is that a photo-resistor's resistance
changes in proportion to the amount of light it is exposed to. In darkness, it has very high
resistance. In bright light, its resistance drops dramatically.

If placed in a voltage divider circuit with a fixed resistor, we can exploit this
resistance-altering behavior so that when connected to a NAND gate, we can produce a logic
HIGH output when the photo-resistor is exposed to bright light and a logic LOW output
when the photo-resistor is exposed to darkness. All of this will be explained in detail below
how exactly this works. But realize that a photo-resistor's resistance-changing ability allows
us to distinctly know whether it is exposed to darkness or bright light. Knowing this, we can
effectively build a light detector circuit.

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 INTRODUCTION

A light detector circuit is a basic circuit which used to detect the light when
light falls on the LDR (light dependent resistor), not only LDR we can use photo diodes,
photo transistors, Etc...When the light falls on the LDR then LED which is given to other end
of the circuit will glow, and when there is no light i.e. in dark place if we place this LDR then
LED will not glow.

For this we used NAND gate for giving the inputs to LED so that LED will
depending on the resistance value of the resistor value and the LDR resistance value. If the
LDR resistance is low and the other resistance is high the LED will glow and vice-versa.

For the circuit we are using voltage divider rule. If we placed the voltage divider
circuit with fixed resistance, we can exploit this resistance-altering behavior so that we can
connect to NAND gate inputs.

We can produce a logic HIGH output when the photo resistor is exposed to bright
light and a logic LOW output when the photo resistor is exposed to darkness. We are using
NAND gate for the light detection.

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 COMPONENTS REQURIED
 NAND gate
 LED(light emitting diode)
 LDR(light dependent resistor)
 Resistor 6.8k ohms
 Resistor 330 ohms
 Batter 9v
 Connecting wires

2.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPONENTS:

2.1.1 NAND GATE:

The NAND (Not – AND) gate has an output that is normally at logic level “1”
and only goes “LOW” to logic level “0” when all of its inputs are at logic level “1”.
The Logic NAND Gate is the reverse or “complementary” form of the AND gate.

The logic or Boolean expression given for a logic NAND gate is that for Logical Addition,
which is the opposite to the AND gate, and which it performs on the complements of the
inputs. The Boolean expression for a logic NAND gate is denoted by a single dot or full stop
symbol, ( . ) with a line or Over line , ( ‾‾ ) over the expression to signify the NOT or logical
negation of the NAND gate giving us the Boolean expression of: A.B = Q.

Fig 2.1: logic NAND gate equivalence

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logic diagram for NAND gate :

Fig 2.2: NAND gate logic diagram

Truth table for NAND gate:

Fig 2.3 truth table for NAND gate

2.2 LIGHT DEPENDENT RESISTOR (LDR):

A photo resistor (or light-dependent resistor, LDR, or photo-conductive cell) is a
light-controlled variable resistor. The resistance of a photo resistor decreases with increasing
incident light intensity; in other words, it exhibits photo conductivity. A photo resistor can be
applied in light-sensitive detector circuits, and light-activated and dark-activated switching
circuits.

A photo resistor is made of a high resistance semiconductor. In the dark, a photo resistor can
have a resistance as high as several mega ohms (MΩ), while in the light, a photo resistor can
have a resistance as low as a few hundred ohms. If incident light on a photo resistor exceeds
a certain frequency, photons absorbed by the semiconductor give bound electrons enough
energy to jump into the conduction band. The resulting free electrons (and
their hole partners) conduct electricity, thereby lowering resistance. The resistance range and
sensitivity of a photo resistor can substantially differ among dissimilar devices. Moreover,
unique photo resistors may react substantially differently to photons within certain
wavelength bands.
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 Fig 2.4: LDR

2.3 LIGHT EMMITING DIODE (LED):

A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor light source that emits light
when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes,
releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresponding to the energy
of the photons) is determined by the energy required for electrons to cross the band gap of
the semiconductor. White light is obtained by using multiple semiconductors or a layer of
light-emitting phosphor on the semiconductor device

Fig 2.4- LED

2.4 RESISTOR :
A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical
resistance as a circuit element. In electronic circuits, resistors are used to reduce current flow,
adjust signal levels, to divide voltages, bias active elements, and terminate transmission lines,
among other uses. High-power resistors that can dissipate many watts of electrical power as
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heat, may be used as part of motor controls, in power distribution systems, or as test loads
for generators.

Fig 2.5-330 ohms resistor

CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

Fig 3.1 circuit diagram

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 WORKING

First and foremost, we must give power to the 4011 NAND gate
chip. We will feed it 5V of power, so we give +5V to pin 14 and we connect pin 7 to GND.
This establishes power to the chip.

The circuit is very basic. The component that allows us to detect light is a photo resistor. We
set up a voltage divider circuit composed of a photo resistor and a 6.8KΩ fixed resistor. In a
voltage divider circuit, voltage is distributed across the components in direct proportion to
the amount of resistance each component offers. The more resistance a component offers in
relation to the other, the more voltage that will fall across that component. This is shown in
the ohm's law formula, V= IR. You can see the direct relationship between voltage and
resistance in the formula. The greater the resistance a component offers, the more voltage
that falls across it. Conversely, the less resistance a component offers, the less voltage that
falls across it.

When a photo resistor is exposed to darkness, it has very high resistance, in the order of a
few mega ohms (MΩ). With resistance this high, most of the voltage from the power supply
feeding the voltage divider circuit falls across the photo resistor, with very little voltage
falling across the 6.8KKΩ fixed resistor. Thus, when connected to the inputs of NAND gate,
with voltage so high, the NAND gate will essentially interpret the voltage divider as if it
were HIGH (or 1). When the voltage feeding the inputs of a NAND gate are greater than half
of the power supply voltage, it will interpret it as a HIGH value. Since we will tie both inputs
together, the NAND gate will interpret this as two ones, so it will output a 0 (or LOW),
which means the output will be drawn down to GND and the load will not be powered.

When a photo resistor is exposed to bright light, its resistance drops dramatically, in order of
20-30KΩ, or less, depending on the type in use. With this resistance this low, most of the
voltage from the power supply falls across the 33KΩ resistor, and less than half are falling
across the photo resistor. With voltage this low, the NAND gate will interpret as a logic level
of 0. Thus, the output will be drawn up to VCC and the load, the led, will be powered on.

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 RESULT

Fig 3.2 output when light falls on LDR

Fig 3.3 output when light not falls on LDR

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 APPLICATIONS

 It is used as the Burglar alarm

 It is used as the freezer warning buzzer
 Street light
 Alarm clocks
 Home lawn and parks
 Camera light meters
 Light intensity meter

CONCLUSION
In this project, we detected the light using the NAND gate. When the bright light
falls on the LDR then resistance of the LDR increases and voltage decreases across the
resistor . As this is a voltage divider circuit the high voltage from the LDR and less
voltage across the variable resistor both the inputs are given to the NAND gate then the
output of the NAND gate becomes high and LED glows. These are used in many
applications.

BIBLOGRAPHY

1) https://www.electronicshub.org/light-detector-using-ldr/
2) https://www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/light-detector-cicuit/
3) https://www.schematics.com/project/sample-light-detector-14859/

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