Propositional

Calculus
 A proposition is a statement which is either true or
false. It is a declarative sentence.
Ex. 1 Dr. G. K. Prabhu is the president of Manipal
University Jaipur.
Proposition Ex. 2 It rained yesterday.
Ex. 3 If 𝑥 is an integer then 𝑥 2 is a positive integer.
Following are not propositions-
Ex. 4 Please give me that book.
Ex. 5 What is your name?
Ex. 6 𝑥 2 = 8
Propositional Normally, the lower-case letters p, q, r,… are
Variables used to represent propositions. e.g.
p: India is in Europe
q: 2 + 2 = 4
Combination of Propositions

We can combine the propositions to produce new propositions.

There are three fundamental There are three derived

connectors- connecters
a) Conjunction a) NAND
b) Disjunction b) NOR
c) Negation c) XOR
Conjunction (⋀)

It means AND-ing of two

statements. 𝑝 𝒒 𝑝∧𝑞
Let p and q are two propositions, T T T
Conjunction of p and q be a
proposition which is true when T F F
both p and q are true otherwise
false. It is denoted by 𝑝 ∧ 𝑞. The F T F
truth table for conjunction of p
and q can be constructed as F F F
follows
Disjunction (∨)

It means OR-ing of two

statements. 𝑝 𝒒 𝑝∨𝑞
Let p and q are two
propositions, disjunction of p T T T
and q be a proposition which
is true when atleast one of p T F T
and q is true and false when
both are false. It is denoted F T T
by 𝑝 ∨ 𝑞. The truth table for
disjunction of p and q can be F F F
constructed as follows
Negation (∼or¬)

It means opposite of original

statement.
Let p be a proposition, the 𝒑 ¬𝒑
negation of p be a proposition
which is true when p is false, and is T F
false when p is true. For negation
of a proposition, we can construct F T
the truth table as follows
NAND
It means negation after AND-
ing of two statements.
Let p and q are two
𝒑 𝒒 𝑝↑𝑞
propositions, NAND of these T T F
two propositions is a
proposition which is false T F T
when both p and q are true,
otherwise true. It is denoted F T T
by ~ 𝑝 ∧ 𝑞 or 𝑝 ↑ 𝑞 . For
NAND, we can construct the F F T
truth table as follows
NOR

It means negation after Or-ing

of two statements. 𝒑 𝒒 𝑝↓𝑞
Let p and q are two
propositions, NOR of these two
T T F
propositions is a proposition T F F
which is true when both p and
q are false, otherwise false. It is F T F
denoted by ~ 𝑝 ∨ 𝑞 or 𝑝 ↓ 𝑞.
For NOR, we can construct the F F T
truth table as follows
XOR

Let p and q be two

propositions, XORing of p and 𝒑 𝒒 𝒑⨁𝒒
q is true if p is true or q is true T T F
but not both and vice versa. It
is denoted by 𝑝⨁𝑞 and the T F T
truth table can be
constructed as F T T
F F F
Some Other Connectors

Conditional or Implication

•𝑝→𝑞

Biconditional or Equivalence

•𝑝↔𝑞
Conditional or Implication

Statements of the form “If p then q”

are called conditional statements. 𝒑 𝒒 𝒑→𝒒
It is denoted as 𝑝 → 𝑞 and read as “p
implies q” or “q is necessary for p” or T T T
“p is sufficient for q”.
T F F
Conditional statement is true if both
p and q are true or if p is false. It is F T T
false if p is true and q is false. The
truth table for implication is as F F T
Conditional Statements and
variations
Variations in Conditional Statement

Contrapositive: The proposition ¬𝒒 → ¬𝒑 is called

contrapositive of 𝒑 → 𝒒

Converse: The proposition 𝒒 → 𝒑 is called the converse

Of the proposition 𝒑 → 𝒒

Inverse: The proposition ¬𝒑 → ¬𝒒 is called the inverse of

𝒑→𝒒
Conditional or Implication

Statements of the form “If p then q”

are called conditional statements. 𝒑 𝒒 𝒑→𝒒
It is denoted as 𝑝 → 𝑞 and read as “p
implies q” or “q is necessary for p” or T T T
“p is sufficient for q”.
T F F
Conditional statement is true if both
p and q are true or if p is false. It is F T T
false if p is true and q is false. The
truth table for implication is as F F T
Biconditional or Equivalence

Statements of the form “if and only

if” are called biconditional 𝒑 𝒒 𝒑↔𝒒
statements. It is denoted by 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞
and read as “p if and only if q”. The T T T
proposition 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞 is true if both p
and q have same truth value T F F
otherwise false. The name of
biconditional comes from the fact
that 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞 is equivalent to (𝑝 → F T F
𝑞) ∧ (𝑞 → 𝑝) . The truth table for
biconditional proposition 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞 can F F T
be constructed as
Equivalence of Propositions
Two propositions are said to be logically equivalent if they have exactly
the same truth values under all circumstances.
Let us take the example 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞 ≡ (𝑝 → 𝑞) ∧ (𝑞 → 𝑝), which can be
proved by the truth table as
𝒑 𝒒 𝒑↔𝒒 𝒑→𝒒 𝒒→𝒑 (𝑝 → 𝑞) ∧ (𝑞 → 𝑝)
T T T T T T
T F F F T F
F T F T F F
F F T T T T
 Tautology
A proposition P is a tautology if it is true under all circumstances.
Ex. Show that the statement (𝑝 → 𝑞) ↔ (¬𝑞 → ¬𝑝) is a tautology.
Sol. To prove this, let us construct the truth table as
𝒑 𝒒 𝒑→𝒒 ¬𝒒 ¬𝒑 ¬𝒒 → ¬𝒑 (𝑝 → 𝑞) ↔ (¬𝑞 → ¬𝑝)
T T T F F T T
T F F T F F T
F T T F T T T
F F T T T T T
Contradiction or Fallacy
A statement that is always false, is called a contradiction.
Ex. Find whether the following proposition is a tautology or fallacy.
(𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ∧∼ (𝑝 ∨ 𝑞)
Sol. To identify, let us construct truth table as

𝒑 𝒒 𝒑∧𝒒 𝒑∨𝒒 ¬(𝒑 ∨ 𝒒) (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ∧∼ (𝑝 ∨ 𝑞)

T T T T F F
T F F T F F
F T F T F F
F F F F T F
Hence, it’s a fallacy.
Contingency
It is a compound statement whose truth values are mixture of true and
false values.
Ex. Let us see the truth values of the compound proposition
𝑃 ≡ 𝑝 → (𝑝 → 𝑞)
𝒑 𝒒 𝒑→𝒒 𝒑 → (𝒑 → 𝒒)
T T T T
T F F F
F T T T
F F T T
So, it’s a contingency.
Ex. P ≡ ((𝑝 → 𝑞 ∧ 𝑟 ) → ¬(𝑝 → 𝑞)
𝒑 𝒒 𝒓 𝒒∧𝒓 𝑝 → 𝑞∧𝑟 𝒑→𝒒 ¬(𝒑 → 𝒒) 𝑷
T T T T T T F F
T T F F F T F T
T F F F F F T T
T F T F F F T T
F T T T T T F F
F F T F T T F F
F T F F T T F F
F F F F T T F F
validation of Argument
Argument
An argument in propositional logic is a sequence of propositions.
Terms such as Theorem, Premises and conclusion used in argument are
defined as
Theorem: It is a true statement (or proposition) derived
from the axioms of a mathematical structure or system.

Conclusion: It is the statement that is asserted on the basis

of other proposition(s).

Premise (or Hypothesis): It is a proposition which is

assumed to be true for accepting a conclusion.
 Validity of an Argument
The argument is valid if the
premises imply the conclusion. An
argument form is an argument
that is valid no matter what
propositions are substituted into its
propositional variables.
If the premises are p1 ,p2, …,pn and
the conclusion is q then
(p1 ∧ p2 ∧ … ∧ pn ) → q
is a tautology.
Method to test the validity of an argument

1. Construct a truth table showing the truth values of all premises

𝑝𝑖′ 𝑠 and conclusion 𝑞 .

2. Find rows (called critical rows) in which all the premises are true.
In case no such row is found, the argument is invalid.
3. In each critical row, determine whether the conclusion is also
true. If yes, then the argument is valid, otherwise invalid.
However, if atleast one critical row contains false conclusion, then
the argument is invalid.
Ex. Examine the validity of the following argument
𝑝∨𝑞
∼𝑞
∴𝑝
Sol. Let us construct the truth table as

Premises Conclusion
𝒑 𝒒 𝒑∨𝒒 ∼𝒒 𝒑
T T T F T
Critical Row
T F T T T
F T T F F
F F F T F
As all the truth values of the premises and conclusion are true in critical row,
so the argument is valid.
 Ex. Examine the validity of the argument
(𝑝 ∨ 𝑞), (𝑝 → ¬𝑞), (𝑝 → 𝑟) → 𝑟
Sol. Let us check the validity using truth table
Premises Conclusion
𝒑 𝒒 𝒓 ¬𝒒 𝒑 ∨ 𝒒 p→ ¬𝒒 𝒑 → 𝒓 𝒓
T T T F T F T T
T T F F T F F F In the
T F F T T T F F seventh row
T F T T T T T T (which is
critical row)
F T T F T T T T the
F F T T F T T T conclusion is
not true, so
F T F F T T T F the argument
F F F T F T T F is invalid.
Ex. Check the validity of the following argument
If a man is bachelor, he is unhappy.
If a man is unhappy, he dies young.
Therefore, bachelors die young.
Sol. Let us assume the propositional variables as
p: Man is bachelor
q: Man is unhappy
r: Man dies young
Then the argument can be written as
𝑝 → 𝑞 , (𝑞 → 𝑟) → (𝑝 → 𝑟)
Now let us check its validity by truth table.
 Premises Conclusion
𝒑 𝒒 𝒓 𝒑→𝒒 𝒒→𝒓 𝒑→𝒓
T T T T T T
T T F T F F
T F F F T F
T F T F T T
F T T T T T
F F T T T T
F T F T F T
F F F T T T

As all the critical rows has true values, so the argument is valid.
Predicate
Calculus
Predicates

Let us consider two propositions

Ram is a bachelor.
Sachin is a bachelor.
Both Ram and Sachin has the same property of being bachelor. In the
propositional calculus, there is no symbolic presentation of “is a bachelor”,
as it is not a sentence. The two propositions can be replaced by a single
proposition “𝑥 is a bachelor”. Then, by replacing 𝑥 with Ram, Sachin or any
other name, we get many propositions.
Predicates (cont’d)
In logic, predicates can be obtained by removing any nouns from the
statement. A predicate is symbolized by capital letter and the names
of individuals or objects are in general by small letters.
The sentence “𝑥 is a bachelor” is symbolized as 𝑃(𝑥), where 𝑥 is a
predicate variable. When concrete values are substituted in place of
predicate variable, a statement results.
𝑃(𝑥) is also called a propositional function, as each choice of 𝑥
produces a proposition which may be true or false.
Thus a predicate is a sentence that contains a finite number of
variables and becomes a proposition when specific values are
substituted for the variables.
Domain of a Predicate Variable

The domain of a predicate variable (also known as Universe of

discourse) is the set of all possible values that may be substituted
in place of variables.
For the previous example, the Universe of discourse for
P(x): “x is a bachelor” can be taken as the set of all human names.
In this example, 𝑥 is the predicate variable and “is a bachelor” is a
predicate.
Ex. Let P(x) denotes the statement “x > 3”,
what are the truth values of P(2) and P(4)?
Sol. The statement P(2) denotes 2 > 3, which
is False.
The statement P(4) denotes 4 > 3, which is
True.

Ex. Let Q(x, y) be the statement “x = y + 3”,

what are the truth values of the statements
Q(1,2) and Q(3,0)?
Sol. Q(1,2) denotes 1 = 2 + 3, which is False.
Q(3,0) denotes 3 = 0 + 3, which is True.
Quantifiers
Quantifiers
Quantification is a technique to
create a statement from a
proposition and Quantifiers are
those with the help of which, the
statement can be created.
There are two types of
quantifiers-
1. Universal Quantifier ∀
2. Existential Quantifier (∃)
Universal Quantifier
The universal quantification of a predicate
𝑃(𝑥) is the statement
“𝑃(𝑥) is true for all values of x in the universe
of discourse”

The notation ∀𝑥𝑃(𝑥) or 𝑥 𝑃(𝑥) denotes the

universal quantification of 𝑃(𝑥). The symbol ∀
is called the universal quantifier.

The statement ∀𝑥𝑃(𝑥) can also be stated as

“for every 𝑥𝑃(𝑥)” or “for all 𝑥𝑃(𝑥)”.
Existential Quantifier

The existential quantification of a predicate 𝑃(𝑥) is the statement

“There exists an element 𝑥 in the universe of discourse for which 𝑃(𝑥) is
true.”
The notation ∃𝑥𝑃(𝑥) denotes the existential quantification of 𝑃(𝑥) and
the symbol ∃ is called the existential quantifier.
The statement ∃𝑥𝑃(𝑥) can also be stated as
“There is a 𝑥 such that 𝑃(𝑥)”
or “for some 𝑥, 𝑃(𝑥)”.
or “ There exists a 𝑥 such that 𝑃(𝑥)”
Properties of Quantifiers

1. ~ ∀𝑥𝑃(𝑥) ≡ ∃𝑥~𝑃 𝑥
2. ~ ∃𝑥~𝑃 𝑥 ≡ ∀𝑥~𝑃 𝑥
3. ∃𝑥 𝑃 𝑥 → 𝑄 𝑥 ≡ ∀𝑥𝑃(𝑥) → ∃𝑥𝑄(𝑥)
4. ∃𝑥𝑄(𝑥) → ∀𝑥𝑄(𝑥) ≡ ∀𝑥 𝑃 𝑥 → 𝑄 𝑥
5. ∃𝑥 𝑃 𝑥 ∨ 𝑄 𝑥 ≡ ∃𝑥𝑃(𝑥) ∨ ∃𝑥𝑄(𝑥)
6. ~ ∃𝑥~𝑃 𝑥 ≡ ∀𝑥𝑃(𝑥)
Ex1. Let P(x, y): x is taller than y, then express the following statement
using quantifiers.
If x is taller than y, then y is not taller than x.
Sol. The related proposition is 𝑃(𝑥, 𝑦) → ~𝑃(𝑦, 𝑥)
As this assertion is true, so it can be represented as
∀𝑥∀𝑦 𝑃(𝑥, 𝑦) → ~𝑃(𝑦, 𝑥)
Ex2. Let P(x): x has studied computer programming. Express the
following with the help of quantifiers
(i) Every student in the class has studied computer programming.
(ii) There is a student in the class who has not studied computer
programming.
Sol. (i) ∀𝑥𝑃(𝑥) (ii) ∃𝑥~𝑃 𝑥 or ~ ∃𝑥𝑃(𝑥)
Ex3. Translate the statement ∀𝑥 𝐶(𝑥) ∨ ∃𝑦 𝐶(𝑦 ∧ 𝐹(𝑥, 𝑦))
into English, where
𝐶(𝑥): “𝑥 has a computer” , 𝐹(𝑥, 𝑦): “𝑥 and 𝑦 are friends”
and the universe of discourse for both 𝑥 and 𝑦 is the set of all
students in our university.
Sol. Every student in our university has a computer or has a
friend who has a computer.