Ambo University Institute of Technology 7/19/2021

Ambo University Institute of Technology Propositional Logic

Department of Computer Science  A proposition is simply a statement. Propositional
Logic in Computer Science logic studies the ways statements can interact with each other.
Chapter 2(Part I):Propositional Logic(PL) and Propositional  It is important to remember that propositional logic does not
Calculus really care about the content of the statements.
 For example, in terms of propositional logic, the claims, “if the
moon is made of cheese then basketballs are round,” and “if
Bayisa Gutema(MSc)
spiders have eight legs then Sam walks with a limp” are exactly
the same.
 They are both implications: statements of the form, P→Q.

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Important Features of PL Syntax of Propositional Logic

Valid arguments are truth preserving  The syntax consists of a set of basic items (i.e., the lexicon) and
1. If premises are True, conclusion must True. a set of construction rules (i.e., syntactic rules) which
2. Validity is formal problem, not matter of content or Context.
determine the well-formed expressions in our logical language.
 In a natural language, like English, a grammatical sentence is a
Symbol: to capture claims and logical connection between
claims. string of words in the right order and with the right structure.
Syntax :The Rule how to take generate complex claims from
simple ones.
Semantics: The meaning of atomic units ,and rule that governing
how meaning of atomic units are puts together to form complex
meaning.

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Semantics of Propositional Logic Cont..

 Natural language is used to communicate information about the Generally semantics is study of the contents of an expression.
world, typically between a speaker and an addressee. These enables us to
 This information is conveyed using linguistic expressions. 1. To determine the conditions under which a sentence is true of
 interpretation of the propositional symbols and constants the world (and those under which it is false).
 symbols can be any arbitrary fact 2. To develop a mechanism that enables us to derive the truth
 sentences consisting of only a propositional symbols are
conditions of a sentence from the meaning of the elements that
satisfiable, but not valid. make up the sentence .

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Cont..
Truth Table
 propositions can be interpreted as any facts you want
– e.g., P means "robins are birds", Q means "the Mike is dead",  Mathematicians normally use a two-valued logic: Every
etc. statement is either True or False.
 meaning of complex sentences is derived from the meaning  This is called the Law of the Excluded Middle.
of its parts.  A statement in sentential logic is built from simple statements
 one method is to use a truth table all are easy except P ÞQ using the logical connectives ,,,Þ,, , , , and .
 this says that if P is true, then I claim that Q is true; otherwise I  The truth or falsity of a statement built with these connective
make no claim; depends on the truth or falsity of its components.
• P is true and Q is true, then P => Q is true  A truth table shows how the truth or falsity of a compound
• P is true and Q is false, then P => Q is false statement depends on the truth or falsity of the simple
• P is false and Q is true, then P => Q is true statements from which it's constructed.
• P is false and Q is false, then P => Q is true

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Logical Connection Truth Value and Equivalent logic

 A logical connective is a word usually written as a symbol that Truth Values
carries a particular instruction of logic on how to operate a  The truth values of component statements are used to find the truth values
of compound statements.
statement or compound statement.
Truth table also
 Logical connectives can also be used to join or combine two or  shows all possible combinations of truth values for component statements.
more statements to form a new statement.  It is used for
Common Logical Connectives  Sentences for tautologousness, self-contradiction or contingency
 There are five common logical connection which are
 Pairs of sentences for equivalence or contradiction
commonly called as logical operator.
 Negation, Conjunction, Disjunction, Implication(Conditional)  Sets of sentences for consistency or inconsistency
and Bi-conditional(Bi-conditional)  Arguments for validity or invalidity

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Truth table for common Logical Connective Example

1. Negation(¬) 1. Find the negation of the proposition “Today is Friday.” and
 changes the truth value of a statement. express this in simple English.
 statement that is a refusal or denial of some other statement.
Solution: The negation is “It is not the case that today is Friday.”
Note: A statement and its negation have opposite truth values. In simple English, “Today is not Friday.” or “It is not Friday
Example today.”
Statement: The product of 2 negative numbers is not positive.
Negation: The product of 2 negative numbers is positive. 2. Find the negation of the proposition “At least 10 inches of rain
 A negation of a simple statement is a compound statement.
fell today in Ambo.” and express this in simple English.
Example Solution: The negation is “It is not the case that at least 10 inches
The dog is sleep and the cat rules the house. of rain fell today in Ambo.” In simple English, “Less than
The dog is not sleep(Negating Compound statement). 10 inches of rain fell today in Ambo.”

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AND ()
Truth table for Negation  are called conjunctions
 Note: Always assume fixed times, fixed places, and particular  The symbol for “and” is Λ . Other words that are sometimes
people unless otherwise noted. used for a conjunction are but, however, or nevertheless.
• If A and B are statement variables, the conjunction of A and
 Truth table B is A Λ B, which is read “A and B”.
 A Λ B is true when both A and B are true.

Truth table

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Implication(Þ)
OR()  are called conditional statements. The symbol for “if…then” is
 are called disjunctions. Þ .
 A  B is False When both A and B are False.  For example p Þ q would be read “If p then q”. A conditional
statement has two parts, the antecedent (the part in front of the
Truth table arrow) and the consequent (the part that follows the arrow).
 The implication of two statement is False if the antecedent is
True and the consequent is False. p q pq

T T T
T F F
F T T
F F T

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Bi-implication() Truth Values assignment

 are called biconditional statements. The symbol for “if and  Each row of a truth table represents a truth value assignment:
only If” is  . an assignment of ‘T’ or ‘F’ to each sentence letter where same
 For example p  q would be read “p if and only if q”. sentence letters get same truth value.
 The bi-implication of two statement is True when both  When you compute the truth value of a sentence given truth
statement have the same Truth values. values for its parts you ’ re computing truth value for the
P Q PQ
sentence in one truth value assignment.
T T T
 When you do a complete truth table for a sentence, set of
T F F sentence or argument you’re computing truth value in every
F T F possible truth value assignment.
F F T

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Cont.. Truth table construction Examples

 If there are n different atomic propositions in some formula, 1. If p represent the statement 4 > 1 and q represent the statement
then there are 2 different lines in the truth table for that 12 < 9, find the truth value of p ˄ q.
formula. (This is because each proposition can take one 1 of 2
values — true or false.)

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Cont..
Cont..
2. If p represent the statement 4 > 1, and q represent the statement 3. Construct the truth table for: p ˄ (¬p ˅ ¬ q)
12 < 9, find the truth value of p ˅ q. A logical statement having n component statements will have 2n
rows in its truth table.
22 = 4 rows

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Mathematical statements Cont..

 If p represent the statement 4 > 1, and q represent the statement  The Truth Values of whole statements is True.
12 < 9, and r represent 0 < 1, decide whether the statement is
true or false.

 The truth value of first statement is False.

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Cont.. Converse, Inverse, and Contrapositive

 Decide whether each statement is True or False (T represents a
true statement, F a false statement).

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Equivalent Statements
 Two statements are equivalent if they have the same truth
value in every possible situation.
Example
Are the following statements equivalent? ~ p ˄ ~ q and ̴ (p ˅
q)

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