Discrete Mathematics

1. Define a tautology and contradiction. Prove that the proposition

( p → r )  (q → r → (( p  q ) → r ) is a tautology.
2. Define tautology. Prove that for any propositions 𝑝, 𝑞, 𝑟, the compound proposition
 p → (q → r → ( p → q ) → ( p → r ) is a tautology.
3. Define a logical equivalence. By constructing truth tables, show that
( p  q) → r   [( p → r )  (q → r )]
4. Verify that for primitive statements 𝑝, 𝑞 and 𝑟.
[( p  q)  (q  r )  (r  p)]  [( p → q )  (q → r )  (r → p)]
5. Prove the following by using laws of logic:
(𝑖){𝑝 → (𝑞 → 𝑟} ⇔ (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) → 𝑟
(𝑖𝑖)[¬𝑝 ∧ (¬𝑞 ∧ 𝑟)] ∨ [(𝑞 ∧ 𝑟) ∨ (𝑝 ∧ 𝑟)] ⇔ 𝑟
6. Prove the following logical equivalences without using truth tables:
(i) p  [ p  ( p  q)]  p (ii)[(p  q) → ( p  q  r )]  p  q
7. Simplify the following switching networks
P P r t

P q

P q r t

8. Simplify the expression and draw the corresponding circuit and give the switching
table.

9. Construct the truth values for NAND and NOR. For any statements 𝑝, 𝑞 prove that
(i ) ( p  q)  (p  q) (ii )( p  q)  (p  q)
10. Define and write the converse, inverse and contrapositive of the statement given
below: If Kabir wears brown pant, then he will wear white shirt.
11. Express the statement of the following argument in symbolic form and test the
validity of the argument.
(i) All men are mortal
Socrates is a man.
Therefore, Socrates is mortal.
(ii) ∀𝑥[𝑝(𝑥) → 𝑞(𝑥)]
∀𝑥[𝑞(𝑥) → 𝑟(𝑥)]
∴ ∀𝑥[𝑝(𝑥) → 𝑟(𝑥)]
12. Examine the validity of the following two arguments.
(i) If there is a strike by the students, the examination will be postponed
There was no strike by the students
Therefore, the examination was not postponed
(ii) If there is a strike by the students , the examination will be postponed
The examination was not postponed
Therefore, there was no strike by the students
13. Prove that the following argument is valid where ‘c’ is the specification element of
Universe
x,  p ( x) → q ( x) 
x,  q ( x) → r ( x) 
r (c )
 p (c )
14. Given that p, q,r are propositions having the truth values 0,0,1 respectively. Find the
truth values of the following propositions.
(i) p → (q  r ) (ii)( p  q)  r (iii)( p  q) → r (iv) p → [q → (r )]
15. Examine the validity of the following argument:
If I study, I will not fail in the examination.
If I do not watch TV in the evenings, I will study.
I failed in the examination.
Therfore, I ust have watched TV in the evenings.
16. Give i) a direct proof, ii) an indirect proof and iii) Proof by contradiction for the
following statement: “If 𝑛 is an odd integer, then (𝑛 + 9) is an even integer”.
17. Give a direct proof for each of the following.
(i)If m and n are both even integers then show that m + n is even.
(ii)If m and n are both even integers then show that m.n is even.
18. Prove by mathematical induction that for all positive integer 𝑛 ≥ 1,
𝑛(𝑛+1)
1 + 2 + 3 + − − − − − − +𝑛 = 2
19. Prove the following using the principle of mathematical inductio
𝑛(2𝑛−1)(2𝑛+1)
12 + 32 + 52 + − − − − − + (2𝑛 − 1)2 = 3
20. Prove by mathematical induction that for every positive integer 𝑛,
(𝑛!) ≥ 2𝑛−1
21. For all positive integers n, prove that if n ≥ 24, then n can be written as a sum of 5’s
and/or 7’s.
22. Determine the number of positive integers n such that 1 ≤ 𝑛 ≤ 100 and n is not
divisible by 2,3 or 4.
23. How many arrangements are there for all letters in the word SOCIOLOGICAL? And
in how many of these arrangements A and G are adjacent?.
24. How many positive integers n can we form using the digits 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7 if we
want n to exceed 5,000,000?
25. In how many ways can the 26 letters of the English alphabet be permitted so that none of
the patterns CAR, DOG, PUN or BYTE occurs?
 Solution
Let S denote the set of all permutations of 26 letters of the English alphabet without

repetition. Then |S| = 26!

Let A1 be the sub set of S which contains the pattern CAR. Thus, A1 consists of all

permutations (of above mentioned 26 letters) which contain the 3-letter pattern CAR as

a single object and the remaining 23 letters as 23 objects.

Therefore
|A1| = number of permutations of distinct objects consisting of the single pattern CAR

and the 23 letters not present in this pattern.= (1 + 23)!=24!

Similarly, if A2, A3, A4 are the subjects of S which respectively contain the pattern DOG,
PUN, BYTE, we find that |A2| = 24!, |A3| = 24!, |A4| = 23!
Likewise, we find that:

|A1  A2| = number of permutations of distinct objects consisting of the two patterns
CAR and DOG, and 20 letters not present in these two patterns = (2 + 22)! = 22!

Similarly,
|A1  A3| = |A2  A3| = (26 – 6 +2) = 22!
|A1  A4| = |A2  A4| = |A3  A4| = (26 – 7 +2)! = 21
|A1  A2  A3| = (26 – 9 +3)! = 20!
|A1  A2  A4| = |A1  A3  A4| = |A2  A3  A4| = (26 – 10 +3)! = 19!
|A1  A2  A3  A4| = (26 – 13 + 4)! = 17!
Therefore the required number of permutations is given by

̅̅̅1 ∩ ̅̅̅
|𝐴 𝐴2 ∩ ̅̅̅
𝐴3 ∩ ̅̅̅
𝐴4 | = |𝑆| − ∑|𝐴𝑖 | + ∑|𝐴𝑖 ∩ 𝐴𝑗 | − ∑|𝐴𝑖 ∩ 𝐴𝑗 ∩ 𝐴𝑘 | + |𝐴1 ∩ 𝐴2 ∩ 𝐴3 ∩ 𝐴4 |

= 26! – (24! + 24! + 24! + 23!) + (22! + 22! + 22! + 21! + 21! + 21!)
– (20! + 19! + 19! + 19!) + 17!
= 26! – (3  24! + 23!) + (3  22! + 3  21!) – (20! + 3  19!) + 17!

26. A certain question paper contains two parts A and B containing 4 questions each,
How many different ways a student can answer 5 questions by selecting at least 2
questions from each part.
27. The number of virus affected files in a system is 1000(to start with) and this increases
250% every two hours use a recurrence relation to determine the number of virus
affected files in the system after one day.
28. Solve the recurrence relation
𝑎𝑛 = 3𝑎𝑛−1 − 2 𝑎𝑛−2 ∀ 𝑛 ≥ 2 𝑎1 = 5, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎2 = 3 .
29. Solve the recurrence relation
𝑎𝑛 + 𝑎𝑛−1 − 6𝑎𝑛−2 = 0 ∀ 𝑛 ≥ 2 𝑎0 = −1, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎1 = 8 .
30. Find the generating function for the recurrence relation 𝑎𝑛+1 − 𝑎𝑛 = 3𝑛 𝑛≥
0 𝑎0 = 1 𝐻𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.
31. Define Pigeonhole principle, Let ∆𝐴𝐵𝐶 be an equilateral triangle of side 1cm. Show
that if we select 10 points in the interior, there must be at least two points whose
distance apart is less than 1/3cm.
32. A bag contains 12 pairs of socks( each pair in different color) if a person draws the
socks one by one at random determine at most how many draws are required to get at
least one pair of matched socks.