Logic and Formality

In your social science courses, logic could define as the study of the
principles of correct reasoning and it is not a psychology of reasoning.
Based on the definition of what is logic, is the study of the principle of
correct reasoning, one of the principles in logic that is very much important
to study is on how to determine the validity of ones argument. Studying
mathematics is also studying theorems. The proof of the theorem uses the
principle of arguments in logic. So, in this case, we could say actually that
the language of mathematics is logic.
These are the major part of formality in mathematics.

a) Definition
One of the major parts of formality in mathematics is the definition itself. When
we say definition, it is a formal statement of the meaning of a word or group of words and it
could stand alone.

Example of this is a definition of a right triangle. What is the exact or formal

definition of this?

b) Theorem
A theorem is a statement that can be demonstrated to be true by accepted
mathematical operations and arguments. In general, a theorem is an embodiment of
some general principle that makes it part of a larger theory. The process of showing a
theorem to be correct is called a proof.
 c) Proof
To be able to say that a theorem is true, it should be undergo on the process
of proving. But what do we mean by proof or a mathematical proof. Proof is a
rigorous mathematical argument which unequivocally demonstrates the truth of a
given proposition. The different methods on proof are as follows:

1. Deductive
2. Inductive
3. Direct Proof
4. Indirect Proof
5. Proof by Counterexample
6. Proof by Contradiction
d) Proposition

1. Negation

How does the statement translate into its negation. Say, given any
statement P, another statement called the negation of P can be formed by writing “It is
false that …” before P, or if possible, by inserting in P the word “not”.

2. Conjunction
Another logical connective is what we called conjunction. If two
statements are combined by the word “and”, then the proposition is called conjunction. In
other words, any two statements can be combined by the word “and” to form a composite
statement which is called the conjunction of the original statements.
 3. Disjunction

Disjunction is another form of proposition. Any two statements can

be combined by the word “or” to form a new statement which is called the disjunction of
the original two statements.

4. Conditional
The fourth type of proposition is that what we called conditional. To
be able to easily identify that the proposition is in a form of conditional statement, you will
notice of the word “If-then”. Most of mathematical definition is in a form of this
statement. So, in other words, it is state that a true statement cannot imply a false
statement. In this proposition, the first statement would be a premise and the second
statement is the conclusion.

5. Biconditional
The last type of proposition is the biconditional. Its uses a connector
for two statements “if and only if”. If your statement is in this form, then your statement is
called biconditional.
e) Corollary

What is corollary? When we say corollary in mathematics, it is also a

proposition that follows with little or no proof required from one already
proven.

e) Lemma
Another formal statement is a lemma and it can also be considered as a
theorem. The only difference of a lemma into a theorem is that lemma is a short theorem
used in proving a larger theorem. As we all know that a theorem is a precise statement
since it was proved to be true with the use of mathematical logic. So, it is precise.

g) Conjecture
A proposition which is consistent with known data, but has neither been
verified nor shown to be false. It is synonymous or identical with hypothesis also
known as educated guess. We can only disproved the truthfulness of a conjecture
when after using a counterexample we found at least one that says the statement
is false
 A. Tell whether the following statements is formal or non-formal. Write F if your
answer is formal and NF if it is non-formal on the space provided before each item.
1. An acute triangle is a triangle that all included angles is less than 90 degrees.
2. The diagonal of a rhombus is perpendicular to each other.
3. A number is an even number if and only if n must be squared.
4. A number n is an odd number if and only if n = 2k + 1 where k is any integer.
5. An odd number raised to a third power is always an odd number.

B. Make a formal and non-formal definition for the following terms:

1. Table
2. Graph
3. Letters

C. Make exactly three formal statements in mathematics.

Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
The type of reasoning that forms a conclusion based on the examination of
specific examples is called inductive reasoning. The conclusion formed by using
inductive reasoning is often called a conjecture, since it may or may not be correct or
in other words, it is a concluding statement that is reached using inductive reasoning.

Inductive reasoning uses a set of specific observations to reach an overarching

conclusion or it is the process of recognizing or observing patterns and drawing a
conclusion.
1. Use inductive reasoning to predict the next number in each of the following list:
3, 6, 9, 12, 15, ?

2. Write a conjecture that describe the pattern 2, 4, 12, 48, 240. Then use the
conjecture to find the next item in the sequence,

3. Write a conjecture that describes the pattern shown below. How many
segments could be formed on the fifth figure?

3, 9, 18, 30, 45
2(3), 3(3), 4(3), 5(3)
 Application of Inductive Reasoning
(Using inductive reasoning to solve a problem)
Inductive reasoning is very essential to solve some practical problems that you may encounter.
With the use of inductive reasoning, we can easily predict a solution or an answer of a certain
problem.

Example 1.
Use the data below and with the use of inductive reasoning, answer each of the
following questions:
1. If a pendulum has a length of 49 units, what is its period?
2. If the length of a pendulum is quadrupled, what happens to its period?

Length of Period of
Pendulum in Units Pendulum in
heartbeats
1 2
4 2
9 3
16 4
25 5
36 6
figure 1 2 3 4 5 100
Example
Number 2.4 8 12 16 20 400
of tiles
The diagram below shows a series of squares formed by small square tiles.
Complete the table below.