Subject: MCSC 201 - Discrete Structures Homework – 2 (Unit 2: Logic)

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1. What do you mean by logical equivalence? Prove the following

(a) (p ⇒ q) ≡ ((∼ p) ∨ q)
(b) (p ⇐⇒ q) ≡ ((p ⇒ q) ∧ (q ⇒ p))
(c) ∼ (p ⇐⇒ q) ≡ ((p∧ ∼ q) ∨ (q∧ ∼ p))

2. Using the laws of logic simplify the boolean expression

(p ∧ ∼ q) ∨ q ∨ (∼ p ∧ q)

3. State the validity of an argument. Determine the validity of the following arguments

If I graduate this semester, then I will have passed the math course.
If I do not study math for 10 hours a week, then I will not pass math.
If I study math for 10 hours a week, then I cannot play football.
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
∴ If I play football, I will not graduate this semester.

4. Use contrapositive method to prove that if the product of two integers is even, then at
least one of them must be an even integer.

5. Use the principle of induction to prove that

(2n + 1)2
1 + 2 + 3 + ··· + n <
8

6. Bernoulli inequality Let x be any real number and x > −1. Use mathematical induction
to prove that
(1 + x)n ≥ 1 + n x
for every n ≥ 0. Note that the induction is on the discrete variable n and not on the
continuous variable x.

7. State Pigeonhole principle. Use this principle to show that if any eight positive integers
are chosen, two of them will have the same remainder when divided by 7.

8. Show that if seven numbers from 1 to 12 are chosen, then two of them will add up to 13.

9. Let p : I will study discrete math, q : I will go to a movie, and r : I am in a good mood.
Write the English sentence corresponding to the following statements:

(a) ((∼ p) ∧ q) =⇒ r (b) r =⇒ p ∨ q (c) (∼ r) =⇒ ((∼ q) ∨ p)