MATH 031

Mathematics in the
Modern World
Mathematical Language and Symbols
 Systematic ways of
communicating by the
use of symbols
Mathematical
Language
It has its own brand of
technical terminology
(factor, exponent,
polynomial, etc.)
Mathematics is as much a language as it is a science. It deals with
written symbols that hold meaning and need to be interpreted.

Examples:

• For example, the English sentence “ Five added to two totals to seven ” is a
functional sentence; it has a subject, an object, and a thought. It also follows
correct agreement of its terms.

*This sentence can be expressed also in mathematics as the

expression “ 5 + 2 = 7 ”
 2. Two more than
thrice a certain
number.
•- 2+3x
3. Five less than twice a
certain number. •- 2x-5
4. The number N
divided by D is equal to
Q and a remainder R.
•- N/D=Q + R/D
 The first rule of mathematics is
that is has to be precise.

General Rules
of The second rule is that
mathematics needs to be
Mathematics concise.
as a Language
The last rule is that it has to be
powerful, meaning that it has to
be able to convey complex
thoughts with relative ease.
 In the English language, a sentence can be a
statement, a question, a command, or an
exclamation, such as the following examples.

a) There are many tourists in

Bohol during summer.

Logic b) Where do you study?

Statement
c) Fill out the information
sheet.

d) Yeah, I won!
 In logic, a statement is a declarative
sentence that expresses thought and can
either be true or false, but not both true
and false. Statement is also called a
proposition.

Simple Examples:

Statement a) above is a declarative sentence and it is a

statement.
b) is a question and not a declarative sentence,
thus it is not a statement.
c) is a command and not a declarative sentence,
thus it is not a statement.
d) is an exclamation declaring one that he won,
so it is a statement.
Example : Tell whether each sentence is a
statement or not.

1. Francisco Duque is the Health Secretary of

the Philippines.

2. Fall in line.

3. Did you submit your project?

4. There will be no increase in the tuition fee

for this semester.

5. x < 7

6. 10y + 3
 1. statement

2. not a statement

3. not a statement
Answers
4. statement

5. statement

6. not a statement
Compound
Statement
The following are the connectives used with their
symbols and the type of statement.
Example: Given the following
simple statements.

p: Joselito Marquez is an
Engineer.

q: Joselito Marquez is a
teacher.

r: Joselito Marquez is not a

singer.

s: Joselito Marquez plays

guitar .
Write the following compound statements
in symbolic form.

1. Joselito Marquez is an Engineer or he is

a teacher.
2. Joselito Marquez is an Engineer and he
is not a singer.
3. If Joselito Marquez is a singer then he
plays guitar.
4. Joselito Marquez plays guitar if and only
if he is a singer.
5. Joselito Marquez is not a teacher but he
does not play guitar.
Answers:

1. pq
2. pr
3. r → s
4. s  r
5. q  s
Example: Given the following simple
statements.

a: Today is Sunday.
b: I will attend a holy mass.
c: I will go to work.
d: Tomorrow is Monday.
Write the following symbolic statements in
words.

1. b  c
2. a  b
3. a → d
4. c  b
Answers:

1. I will attend a holy mass or I will go to

work.
2. Today is Sunday and I will attend a holy
mass.
3. If today is Sunday then tomorrow is
Monday.
4. I will not go to work if and only if I will
attend a hoy mass.
Write the following compound statements in symbolic
form. Use the letters p, q, and r to represent the
simple statements.

p: You study your lessons.

q: You pass the exam.
r: You will graduate.

1. If you don’t study your lessons and you don’t pass the exam,
then you will not graduate.
2. You will graduate, if and only if you study your lessons and
pass the
exam.
Answers:

1. ( p  q ) → r
2. r(pq)
Write the
following p: Edmund plays football.
symbolic form q: Edmund is a football player.
of statements r: Edmund plays basketball.
in words. Use s: Edmund does not play
volleyball.
the following
simple
1. q  ( r  s )
statements.
2. q → ( p  s )
 1. Edmund is a football player, and he
does not play basketball or he does
Answers: not play volleyball.

2. If Edmund is a football player, then

he plays football and not volleyball.
 A Truth Table is a table showing the
truth value of a statement; simple or
compound.
Truth
Table and The truth value of a simple statement
is either true ( T ) or false ( F ), while
Truth the truth value of a compound
statement depends on the truth value
Value of each simple statements and the
connectives.
The Negation Truth Table

The symbol (  ) denotes

negation of a statement.
Thus if a statement is
true ( T ) then its
negation is false ( F ),
and on the other hand, if
p p
the statement is false( F
) then its negation is
T F
true ( T ). The symbols (
- and  ) also denote F T
negation.

Truth Table for p

The Truth Table for Conjunction

The conjunction p  q is
true if both p and q are
true and false if either p p q pq
or q is false.
T T T
Truth Table for p  q
F T F
T F F
F F F
The Truth Table for Disjunction

The disjunction p  q is
pq
true if p is true or q is
true or both p and q are P q
true
T T T
Truth Table for p  q
F T T
T F T
F F F
Example:

Construct a truth table for

( p  q )  q.
p q
Solution: T T
Step1: Truth table of the 2
simple statements T F
F T
F F
Step 2: Include the truth
values of p.
p q p
T T F
T F F
F T T
F F T
Step 3: Now use the
truth values of the p
p 
and q columns to get
p q p
the truth values of p
q
 q.

T T F T
T F F F
F T T T
F F T T
 Step 4: Now use the p  ( p  q )
P q p
truth values of the p  q q
q and q columns to get
the truth values of ( p T T F T T
 q )  q. T F F F F
F T T T T
F F T T F
Therefore, the truth values of ( p  q )  q is true when p and q
are true and when p is false and q is true, otherwise it is false.
 A tautology is a compound statement
that is always true, regardless of the
Tautology, truth values of the simple statements
Contradiction, that occur in it.
and
Contingency A contradiction is a compound
statement that is always false.
Example: Show that p q p p  q ( p  q )  p
( p  q )  p is a
tautology. T T F T T
Solution:
T F F F T
The column for ( p  F T T T T
q )  p on the right
are all true, therefore
it is a tautology.
F F T T T
 p q(p
p q q
q  q )
Example:
Show that T T F F F
q  ( p  q ) T F T T F
is a contradiction.
F T F F F
F F T F F
Truth Table Conditional statement can be written
for if p then q or p→q in symbol. The p
statement is called the antecedent or
Conditional hypothesis, and the q statement is
p→q called the consequent or conclusion.
Case 1. Antecedent True, Consequent True:
If you will study for 3 hours today, you will
pass the exam tomorrow.
Since both the antecedent and consequent
are true, the statement is true.

Case 2. Antecedent True, Consequent

False:
If you will study for 3 hours today, you will
not pass the exam tomorrow.
Since the antecedent is true and
consequent is false, the statement is false.
Case 3. Antecedent False, Consequent True:
If you will not study for 3 hours today, you will
pass the exam tomorrow.
Since the statement does not tell what might
happen if you cannot study today, the
statement is considered true.
Case 4. Antecedent False, Consequent False:
If you will not study for 3 hours today, you will
not pass the exam tomorrow.
Still the statement does not tell what might
happen if you cannot study today, the
statement is considered true.
Truth Table for the condition p→q
Equivalent Statements

Two compound statements A and B are equivalent if they

both have the same truth value for all possible truth
values of their simple statements. Symbolically, we write
AB or A  B.
Example: Show that the statements,
p→q and p  q are equivalent. The truth
table of each statement is shown below.

Truth Table for p→q

Truth Table for p  q
p q p→q
T T T
T F F
F T T
F F T
Truth Table for Biconditional
statement pq
More examples:

Given the following simple statements.

a. The number ends with 5. b. The number ends with 0.
c. The number is divisible by 5. d. The number is odd.
A. Write the following symbolic statements in words.
1) a  d 2) c  d 3) b  d 4) c → ( d  a )
B. Write the following compound statements in symbolic form.
1. A number ends with 5 and the number is odd.
2. If a number ends with 0, then it is not odd.
3. If a number ends with 0 or 5, then it is divisible by 5.
4. A number is divisible by 5 if and only if it ends with 0 or 5.
Answers:
A. Write the following symbolic statements in words.

1) ad
- The number ends with 5 or the number is odd.
2) c  d
- The number is divisible by 5 and the number is odd.
3) b  d
- The number ends with zero and the number is not odd.
4) c → ( d  a )
- If the number is divisible by 5, then the number is odd and ends
with 5.
B. Write the following compound
statements in symbolic form.

1. A number ends with 5 and the number is odd.

answer: a  d
2. If a number ends with 0, then it is not odd.
answer: b → d
3. If a number ends with 0 or 5, then it is divisible by 5.
answer: (b  a) → c
4. A number is divisible by 5 if and only if it ends with 0
or 5. answer: c  (a  b)
Construct the truth table of the following:

1. p  p
2. q  ( r  q )
3. (pq)(pq)
The truth table of p  p

p p p  p
T F T
F T T
The truth table of q  ( r  q )

q r q ( r  q ) q  ( r  q )

T T F F T
T F F F T
F T T T T
F F T F F
The truth table of ( p  q )  (  p  q )

p q p (pq) (pq) (pq)(pq)

T T F T T T
T F F T F F
F T T T T T
F F T F T F
Reference: Mathematics in the
Modern World by Engr. Rosalena
and Engr. Siangco