Mathematics in the Modern World

Module 1 – Lesson 7
Propositional Logic
Edgar M. Adina
Lesson 6: Propositional Logic

Symbolic logic is a powerful tool for analysis and communication in

mathematics. It represents the natural language and mathematical
language with symbols and variables.
Intended Learning Outcomes: At the end of the lesson, students
should be able to:
1. write statements in symbolic forms;
2. write symbolic statements in words;
3. construct a truth table for a given compound statement;
4. use truth table for logical equivalence; and
5. write a conditional statement in other forms.
Basic Concepts
The basic concepts of symbolic logic are on statements and
connectives.
A statement (or more fundamentally, proposition) is an assertion
which can be regarded as true or false. A statement is simple if it
conveys a single thought, otherwise, it is a compound statement.

A compound statement is formed by using logical connectives.

Basic Concepts

Technically, statements are used to express propositions, the latter being

the truth-bearer. So, a single proposition may have several corresponding
statements.

Proposition: Every even number is divisible by 2.

Statements: (i) If a number is even, then it is divisible by 2.

(ii) A number is even only if it is divisible by 2.
(iii) A number is not an even number or it is divisible by 2.
Note that the proposition is “TRUE”, so all corresponding statements must
also be “TRUE”.
Compound Statement: Negation
A negation reverses the truth value of a statement.

Key Words: not, it is not true that

Symbol: ~

Examples]
1. p: 1 is prime.
2. ~p: “1 is not prime.” or “It is not true that 1 is prime.”

3. q: 5 + 3 = 7
4. ~q: 5 + 3 ≠ 7
Compound Statement: Disjunction
A disjunction is formed by using the connective “or”.

Key words: or, either-or

Symbol: 𝑝 ∨ 𝑞

Example:
1. p: 1 = 1 ; q: 1 = −1 ===> 𝑝 ∨ 𝑞 : 1 = 1 𝑜𝑟 1 = −1

2. r: x is even ; s: x is odd ===> 𝑝 ∨ 𝑞 : Either x is even or x is odd.

Compound Statement: Conjunction
A conjunction is formed by using the connective “and”

Key words: and, but, although, however, yet, nevertheless,

furthermore, neither...nor, also

Symbol: 𝑝 ∧ 𝑞

Examples:
1. 2 is even but 2 is prime.

2. Neither 2 is odd nor 2 is prime. [~𝑝 ∧ ~𝑞]

Compound Statement: Conditional
A conditional statement is formed by using the connective “if-then”.
In its fundamental form as “If 𝑝, then 𝑞” , p is called the antecedent
while q is called the consequent. A conditional statement is also called
an implication.
Symbol: 𝑝 → 𝑞

Other conditional connectives for “𝑝 → 𝑞”:

“p implies q”, “p only if q”, “not p or q”, “every p is q”,
“q, if p”, “q provided that p”, “q is a necessary condition
for p”, “p is a sufficient condition for q”, “p yields q”,
“q follows from p”
Compound Statement: Biconditional
A biconditional is formed by using the connective “if and only if”. It is
also called a double conditional.

Symbol: 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞

Key words: p if and only if q, p is necessary and sufficient condition

for q, p is equivalent to q

Note: 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞 is the conjunction of 𝑝 → 𝑞 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑞 → 𝑝

Compound Statements

Connectives Proposition Type Symbols Example Read

Negation ~
Not ~𝑝 Not p (p is false)
p and q
And/But conjunction ∧ 𝑝∧𝑞
(both p and q are true)
p or q
Or disjunction ∨ 𝑝∨𝑞 (Either p is true or q is true or
both are true)
If p then q
Implies Conditional → 𝑝→𝑞
p implies q and q implies p
If and only if Biconditional ↔ 𝑝↔𝑞 p if and only if q
Examples
Consider the following statements:
h: Harry is not happy ; v: Harry is going to watch a volleyball game
r : It is going to rain ; s: Today is Sunday.
Write the following in symbolic form:
COMPOUND STATEMENT SYMBOLISM
1. Today is Sunday and Harry is not happy. 𝑠∧ℎ
2. Today is Sunday and Harry is not going to watch a volleyball game. 𝑠 ∧ ~𝑣
3. If it is going to rain, then Harry is not going to watch a volleyball game. 𝑟 → ~𝑣
4. Harry is going to watch a volleyball game if and only if he is happy. 𝑣 ↔ ~ℎ
5. Harry is happy only if it is not going to rain. ~ℎ → ~𝑟
6. Harry is going to watch a volleyball or it is going to rain. 𝑣∨𝑟
Basic Concepts

Convert the following symbolic statements into words given the

following propositions.

p : Gian plays volleyball. q : Lanz plays basketball.

SYMBOLISM COMPOUND STATEMENT

~𝑝 Gian does not play volleyball.
𝑝∧𝑞 Gian plays volleyball while Lanz plays basketball.
𝑝 → ~𝑞 If Gian plays volleyball then Lanz does not play basketball.
𝑝 ∨ (~𝑝 → 𝑞) Gian plays volleyball or if Gian does not play volleyball then Lanz plays
basketball.
Related Forms of the Conditional 𝒑 → 𝒒
Consider the conditional statement 𝑝 → 𝑞. The following conditional
statements can also be formed, relative to the antecedent “p” and the
consequent “q”.

(i) Converse: 𝑞 → 𝑝
(ii) Inverse: ~𝑝 → ~𝑞
(iii) Contrapositive: ~𝑞 → ~𝑝
Related Forms of the Conditional 𝒑 → 𝒒

Example: Write the converse, inverse, and contrapositive of the proposition

“Every rectangle is a parallelogram.”
Answer:
The proposition may be stated as “𝑝 → 𝑞”: If it is a rectangle, then it is a parallelogram.
(i) Converse: If it is a parallelogram, then it is a rectangle.
(ii) Inverse: If it is not a rectangle, then it is not a parallelogram.
(iii) Contrapositive: If it is not a parallelogram, then it is not a rectangle.
Negation of the Conditional 𝒑 → 𝒒

The negation of the conditional statement 𝑝 → 𝑞 is 𝑝 ∧ ~𝑞. In symbols, we

write
~ 𝑝 → 𝑞 ↔ (𝑝 ∧ ~𝑞)

Example:
𝑝 → 𝑞 : If a number is divisible by 2, then it is even.
~ 𝑝 → 𝑞 : A number is divisible by 2 and it is not even.
Propositional Logic
A logical statement may either be true or false. If the statement is
true, then the truth value corresponding to the statement is true and
is denoted by the letter T. If it is false, the statement has a value
denoted by F.

Propositional logic is concerned with the evaluation of the “truth

value” of a (simple or compound) proposition. If a proposition is true,
then its truth value is assigned “T” (or “1”), otherwise, it is “F” (or
“0”).
Propositional Logic

For compound statements, the truth value may be

determined by using truth tables, which shows all possible
combinations of the truth values of the component (simple)
statements and the corresponding truth value of the entire
compound statement.
Propositional Logic: Truth Tables

A. Assertion B. Negation C. Conjunction

p p ~𝑝 p 𝑞 𝑝∧𝑞

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

D. Disjunction E. Conditional F. Biconditional

p 𝑞 𝑝∨𝑞 p 𝑞 𝑝→𝑞 p 𝑞 𝑝↔𝑞

T T T T T T T T T
T F T T F F T F F
F T T F T T F T F
F F F F F T F F T
 Illustration
Example:
Construct the truth table for the compound statement. (𝑝 ∨ 𝑞) ∧ ~ 𝑝

Solution:
Applying the basic rules discussed previously, we obtain the following table.

p 𝑞 𝑝∨𝑞 ~𝑝 (𝑝 ∨ 𝑞) ∧ ~ 𝑝

T T T F F
T F T F F
F T T T T
F F F T F
Types of Proposition

We can classify proposition according to the truth values:

1. Tautology – a compound statement that is always true
regardless of the truth values of the component
statements
2. Contradiction – always false regardless of the truth
values of component statements
3. Contingency – a compound statement that is neither a
tautology nor a contradiction
Types of Proposition

Construct the truth table of ~p ∨ (~q → p).

𝒑 𝒒 ~𝒑 ~𝒒 ~𝒒 → 𝒑 ~𝒑 ∨ (~𝒒 → 𝒑)
Types of Proposition
Construct the truth table of p ∧ (~p ∧ q).

𝒑 𝒒 ~𝒑 ~𝒒 (~p ∧ q) p ∧ (~p ∧ q)
Logical Equivalence
Two mathematical statements are logically equivalent if the final
output of their truth tables are exactly the same. For example, the
statement 𝑝 → 𝑞 is not logically equivalent to 𝑞 → 𝑝 but it is logically
equivalent to ~p ∨ q.

If P and Q are compound statements, then P and Q are logically

equivalent if and only if P ↔ Q is a tautology.
Illustration
Show, using truth table, that an implication is logically equivalent to
its contrapositive (but not to its converse and inverse).