MATHEMATICAL LOGIC

Definition: Methods of reasoning, provides rules and techniques to determine whether an

argument is valid

Theorem: a statement that can be shown to be true (under certain conditions)

Example: If x is an even integer, then x + 1 is an odd integer
This statement is true under the condition that x is an integer is true.

A statement, or a proposition, is a declarative sentence that is either true or false, but not both
Uppercase letters denote propositions
Examples:
 P: 2 is an even number (true)
 Q: 7 is an even number (false)
 R: A is a vowel (true)
The following are not propositions:
 P: My cat is beautiful
 Q: My house is big

Propositions
 A statement that has a truth value
 Which of the following are propositions?
- The Washington State flag is red
- It snowed in Whistler, BC on January 4, 2008.
- Hillary Clinton won the democratic caucus in Iowa
- Space aliens landed in Roswell, New Mexico
- Ron Paul would be a great president
- Turn your homework in on Wednesday
- Why are we taking this class?
- If n is an integer greater than two, then the equation an + bn = cn has no solutions
in non-zero integers a, b, and c.
- Every even integer greater than two can be written as the sum of two primes
- This statement is false
 Propositional variables: p, q, r, s, . . .
 Truth values: T for true, F for false

Truth value
One of the values “truth” (T) or “falsity” (F) assigned to a statement
Negation
The negation of P, written , is the statement obtained by negating statement P
Example:
P: A is a consonant
¬P: it is the case that A is not a consonant
Truth Table

Conjunction

 Let P and Q be statements. The conjunction of P and Q, written P ^ Q , is the statement

formed by joining statements P and Q using the word “and”
 The statement P ^ Q is true if both p and q are true; otherwise P ^ Q is false
 Truth Table for Conjunction:

Disjunction

 Let P and Q be statements. The disjunction of P and Q, written P v Q , is the statement

formed by joining statements P and Q using the word “or”
 The statement P v Q is true if at least one of the statements P and Q is true; otherwise P v
Q is false  The symbol v is read “or”
 Truth Table for Disjunction:

Implication
  Let P and Q be statements. The statement “if P then Q” is called an implication or
condition.
 The implication “if P then Q” is written P → Q
 P is called the hypothesis, Q is called the conclusion
 Truth Table for Implication:

 Let P: Today is Sunday and Q: I will wash the car.

 P→Q:
If today is Sunday, then I will wash the car.
 The converse of this implication is written Q → P
If I wash the car, then today is Sunday
 The inverse of this implication is ¬P→¬Q
If today is not Sunday, then I will not wash the car
 The contrapositive of this implication is ¬Q→¬P
If I do not wash the car, then today is not Sunday

Biimplication

 Let P and Q be statements. The statement “P if and only if Q” is called the biimplication
or biconditional of P and Q
 The biconditional “P if and only if Q” is written P ↔ Q
 “P if and only if Q”
 Truth Table for the Biconditional:

Precedence of logical connectives is:

  ¬ highest
 ^ second highest
 v third highest
 → fourth highest
 ↔ fifth highest

English and Logic

 You cannot ride the roller coaster if you are under 4 feet tall unless you are older than 16
years old
o q: you can ride the roller coaster
o r: you are under 4 feet tall
o s: you are older than 16
( r ^ ¬ s) → ¬ q
¬ s → (r → ¬ q)

A compound proposition is a

 Tautology if it is always true

 Contradiction if it is always false
 Contingency if it can be either true or false

Logically Implies

 A statement formula A is said to logically imply a statement formula B if the statement

formula A → B is a tautology. If A logically implies B, then symbolically we write A →
B

Logically Equivalent

 A statement formula A is said to be logically equivalent to a statement formula B if the

statement formula
A ↔ B is a tautology. If A is logically equivalent to B , then symbolically we
write A ⟺ B
Quantifiers and First Order Logic

 Predicate or Propositional Function

 Let x be a variable and D be a set; P(x) is a sentence
 Then P(x) is called a predicate or propositional function with respect to the set
D if for each value of x in D, P(x) is a statement; i.e., P(x) is true or false
 Moreover, D is called the domain (universe) of discourse and x is called the free
variable

 Universal Quantifier
o Let P(x) be a predicate and let D be the domain of the discourse. The universal
quantification of P(x) is the statement:
 For all x, P(x) or
 For every x, P(x)
 The symbol ∀ is read as “for all and every”
 ∀x, P(x) or ∀ x ∈ D,P(x)
 Two-place predicate: ∀x, ∀y, P(x, y)

 Existential Quantifier
o Let P(x) be a predicate and let D be the universe of discourse. The existential
quantification of P(x) is the statement:
 There exists x, P(x)
 The symbol ∃ is read as “there exists”
 ∃x ∈ D,P(x) or ∃x, P(x)
 Bound Variable
 The variable appearing in: ∀x, P(x) or ∃x, P(x)

 Negation of Predicates (DeMorgan’s Laws)

o ¬∀x, P(x) ⟺ ∃x,¬P(x)
o Example:
 If P(x) is the statement “x has won a race” where the domain of discourse
is all runners, then the universal quantification of P(x) is ∀x, P(x), i.e.,
every runner has won a race. The negation of this statement is “it is not the
case that every runner has won a race. Therefore there exists at least one
runner who has not won a race. Therefore: ∃x,¬P(x)
 ¬∃x, P(x) ⟺ ∀x, ¬P(x)
LOGIC: STATEMENTS, NEGATIONS, QUANTIFIERS, TRUTH TABLES

STATEMENTS
A statement is a declarative sentence having truth value.

Examples of statements:
Today is Saturday.
Today I have math class.
1+1=2
3<1
What's your sign?
Some cats have fleas.
All lawyers are dishonest.
Today I have math class and today is Saturday.
1 + 1 = 2 or 3 < 1

For each of the sentences listed above (except the one that is stricken out) you should be able to
determine its truth value (that is, you should be able to decide whether the statement is TRUE or
FALSE).

Questions and commands are not statements.

SYMBOLS FOR STATEMENTS

It is conventional to use lower case letters such as p, q, r, s to represent logic statements.
Referring to the statements listed above, let
p: Today is Saturday.
q: Today I have math class.
r: 1 + 1 = 2
s: 3 < 1
u: Some cats have fleas.
v: All lawyers are dishonest.

Note: In our discussion of logic, when we encounter a subjective or value-laden term (an
opinion) such as "dishonest," we will assume for the sake of the discussion that that term
has been precisely defined.

QUANTIFIED STATEMENTS
The words "all" "some" and "none" are examples of quantifiers.
A statement containing one or more of these words is a quantified statement.
Note: the word "some" means "at least one."
EXAMPLE
According to your everyday experience, decide whether each statement is true or false:
1. All dogs are poodles. - False (because we know that there is at least one dog that is not a
poodle).
2. Some books have hard covers. - True (because we know that there is at least one book that
doesn’t have a hard cover).
3. No U.S. presidents were residents of Georgia. - False (because we know that there was at least
one president who was from Georgia).
4. Some cats are mammals. - True (because there is at least one cat that is a mammal; in fact
every cat is a mammal).
5. Some cats aren't mammals. - False (because we know that it is not possible to find at least cat
that isn’t a mammal)

#1 above illustrates the following fundamental fact:

In order for a statement of the form “All A are B” to be false, we must be able to demonstrate
that there is at least one member of category A that isn’t a member of category B. This is
equivalent to demonstrating that A is not a subset of B. This means that a statement of the form
“All A are B” is true even in the odd case where category A has no members.

#4 and #5 illustrate the following fundamental fact:

Although the statements “Some are…” and “Some aren’t…” sound similar, they do not mean the
same thing.

NEGATIONS
If p is a statement, the negation of p is another statement that is exactly the opposite of p.
The negation of a statement p is denoted ~p ("not p").
A statement p and its negation ~p will always have opposite truth values; it is impossible
to conceive of a situation in which a statement and its negation will have the same truth
value.

EXAMPLE
Let p be the statement "Today is Saturday."
Then ~p is the statement "Today is not Saturday."
On any given day, if p is true then ~p will be false; if p is false, then ~p will be true.
It is impossible to conceive of a situation in which p and ~p are simultaneously true.
It is impossible to conceive of a situation in which p and ~p are simultaneously false.

NEGATIONS OF QUANTIFIED STATEMENTS

Fact: "None" is the opposite of "at least one."
For example: The negation of "Some dogs are poodles" is "No dogs are poodles."
Notice that "Some dogs are poodles" is a statement that is true according to our everyday
experience, and "No dogs are poodles" is a statement that is false according to our everyday
experience.

In general:
The negation of "Some A are B" is "No A are (is) B."

(Note: this can also be phrased "All A are the opposite of B," although this construction
sometimes sounds ambiguous.)

EXAMPLE
Write the negation of "Some used cars are reliable."

Fact: "Some aren't" is the opposite of "all are."

For example, the negation of "All goats are mammals" is "Some goats aren't mammals."

Notice that "All goats are mammals" is a statement that is true according to our everyday
experience, while "Some goats aren't mammals" is a statement that is false according to our
everyday experience.

In fact, it is logically impossible to imagine a situation in which those two statements have the
same truth value.

In general, the negation of "All A are B" is "Some A aren't B."

LOGICAL CONNECTIVES
The words "and" "or" "but" "if...then" are examples of logical connectives. They are words that
can be used to connect two or more simple statements to form a more complicated compound
statement.

Examples of compound statements:

"I am taking a math class but I'm not a math major."
"If I pass MGF1106 and I pass MGF1107 then my liberal studies math requirement will be
fulfilled."

EQUIVALENT STATEMENTS
Any two statements p and q are logically equivalent if they have exactly the same meaning. This
means that p and q will always have the same truth value, in any conceivable situation.
If p and q are equivalent statements, then it is logically impossible to imagine a situation in
which the two statements would have differing truth values.
Examples:
"Today I have math class and today is Saturday" is equivalent to "Today is Saturday and today I
have math class."

This equivalency follows simply from our everyday understanding of the meaning of the word
"and."

"This and that" means the same as "That and this."

Likewise, "I have a dog or I have a cat" is equivalent to "I have a cat or I have a dog"
This equivalency follows simply from our everyday understanding of the meaning of the word
"or."

"This or that" means the same as "That or this."

Logical equivalence is denoted by this symbol: ≡

Referring back to examples 1.4.1 #4 and #5 we saw that the statement

"Some cats are mammals" was true, while the statement "Some cats aren't mammals" was false.
This means that those two statements are NOT equivalent.

The pair of statements cited above illustrate this general fact:

"Some A are B" is not equivalent to "Some A aren't B."

THE CONJUNCTION AND THE DISJUNCTION

THE CONJUNCTION
If p, q are statements, their conjunction is the statement "p and q."
It is denoted: p ∧ q

For example, let p be the statement "I have a dime" and let q be the statement "I have a nickel.”
Then p ∧ q is the statement "I have a dime and I have a nickel."

In general, in order for any statement of the form “p ∧ q” to be true, both p and q must be true.

Example: "Tallahassee is in Florida and Orlando is in Georgia" is a false statement.

MORE ON THE CONJUNCTION
The word but is also a conjunction; it is sometimes used to precede a negative phrase.
Example: “I've fallen and I can't get up" means the same as "I've fallen but I can't get up."
In either case, if p is "I've fallen" and q is "I can get up" the conjunction above is symbolized as p
∧ ~q.

THE DISJUNCTION
If p, q are statements, their disjunction is the statement "p or q."
It is denoted: p ∨ q.

For example, let p be the statement "Today is Tuesday" and let q be the statement "1 + 1 = 2." In
that case, p ∨ q is the statement
"Today is Tuesday or 1 + 1 = 2."

In general, in order for a statement of the form p ∨ q to be true, at least one of its two parts must
be true. The only time a disjunction is false is when both parts (both “components”) are false.

The statement "Today is Tuesday or 1 + 1 = 2" is TRUE.

EQUIVALENCIES FOR THE CONJUNCTION ("AND") AND THE DISJUNCTION

("OR")
As we observed earlier, according to our everyday usage of the words "and" and "or" we have
the following equivalencies:
1. "p and q" is equivalent to "q and p"
p∧q≡q∧p

2. "p or q" is equivalent to "q or p"

p∨q≡p∨q

For example, "I have a dime or I have a nickel" equivalent to "I have a nickel or I have a dime."

Likewise, "It is raining and it isn't snowing" is equivalent to "It isn't snowing and it is raining."

TRUTH TABLES
A truth table is a device that allows us to analyze and compare compound logic statements.

Consider the symbolic statement p ∨ ~q.

Whether this statement is true or false depends upon whether its variable parts are true or false,
as well as on the behavior of the “or” connective and the “negation” operator.
Later, we will make a truth table for this statement.
A truth table for this statement will take into account every possible combination of the variables
being true or false, and show the truth value of the compound statement in each case.
EXAMPLE
As an introduction, we will make truth tables for these two statements
1. p ∧ q
2. p ∨ q

Solution to EXAMPLE #1

p q p∧q

T T T

T F F

F T F

F F F

Note that in this truth table there is only one row in which the statement p ∧ q is true. This the
row where p is true and q is true. This conforms to our earlier observation that the only situation
in which is conjunction is true is the case in which both of its component statements are true.

Solution to EXAMPLE #2

p q p∧q

T T T

T F T

F T T

F F F

Note that in this truth table there is only one row in which the statement p ∨ q false. This is the
row where p is false and q is false. This conforms to our earlier observation that the only
situation in which is disjunction is false is the case in which both of its component statements are
false.

THE BASIC RULES FOR CONSTRUCTING A TRUTH TABLE FOR A COMPOUND

STATEMENT
1. The number of rows in the truth table depends upon the number of basic variables in the
compound statement. To determine the number of rows required, count the number of basic
variables in the statement, but don't re-count multiple occurrences of a variable.
1 variable---2 rows
2 variables--4 rows
3 variables--8 rows
4 variables--16 rows and so forth.

2. The number of columns in a truth table depends upon the number of logical connectives in the
statement. The following guidelines are usually reliable.
A. There will be one column for each basic variable; and
B. To determine the number of other columns, count the number of logical connectives in the
statement; do re-count multiple occurrences of the same connective. The “~” symbol counts as a
logical connective.
In addition to the columns for each basic variable, there will usually be one column for each
occurrence of a logical connective.

3. The beginning columns are filled in so as to take into account every possible combination of
the basic variables being true or false. Each row represents one of the possible combinations.

4. In order to fill in any other column in the truth table, you must refer to a previous column or
columns.

TAUTOLOGIES
A tautology is a statement that cannot possibly be false, due to its logical structure (its syntax).

USING TRUTH TABLES TO TEST FOR LOGICAL EQUIVALENCY

To determine if two statements are equivalent, make a truth table having a column for each
statement. If the columns are identical, then the statements are equivalent.