MACM 101 — Discrete Mathematics I

Exercises on Propositional Logic I. Due: Friday, Septem-

ber 22nd
Reminder: the work you submit must be your own. You are not allowed to
use outside resources containing solutions of the homework problems. Also, see
instruction at the end of this problem sheet.
1. There are two tribes living on the island of Knights and Knaves: knights and knaves.
You meet three inhabitants of the island of Knights and Knaves, A, B, and C. Let p
represents the statement “A is a knight”, q represents the statement “B is a knight”,
and r represents the statement “C is a knight”. Use these names along with logic
connectives to write each of the following English sentences in symbolic logic notation:

(a) A is a knave and B or C is a knight.

(b) A and B are knaves, or A and C are knights.
(c) At least two people are knights.
(d) Exactly two people are knights.

2. Find a compound statement involving the propositional variables p, q, and r that is

true when p and r are false, and q is true, but false otherwise.

3. There are two tribes living on the island of Knights and Knaves: knights and knaves.
Knights always tell truth and knaves always lie. You meet three inhabitants of the
island of Knights and Knaves, A, B, and C. A says “B and C are both knaves”, B
says “Only one of the other two is a knave”, and C says “At least one of us is a knave”.
Who if anyone is a knight?

4. Construct a truth table for the following compound statement: (p ⊕ r) → (¬q ⊕ ¬r).

5. Are these system specifications consistent? “Whenever the system software is being
upgraded, users cannot access the file system. If users can access the file system, then
they can save new files. If users cannot save new files, then the system software is not
being upgraded.”

6. Determine whether the following compound statement is a tautology

((p ∨ q) ∧ (¬p ∨ r)) → (q ∨ r).

7. Use truth tables to check if each of the given pairs of compound statements are equiv-
alent:

(a) p ↔ q and (p → q) ∧ (q → p).

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 (b) (p → r) ∨ (q → r) and (p ∧ q) → r.
(c) (p ∧ q) → r and (p → r) ∧ (q → r).

8. How many of the disjunctions p ∨ ¬r, ¬p ∨ r, q ∨ r, ¬q ∨ r, and ¬q ∨ ¬r can be made

simultaneously true by an assignment of truth values to p, q, and r?

9. The following sentence is taken from the specification of a telephone system: “If the
directory database is opened, then the monitor is put in the closed state, if the system
is not in the initial state.” This specification is hard to understand because it involves
two conditional statements. Find an equivalent, easier-to-understand specification that
involves disjunctions and negations but not conditional statements.

10. Use truth tables to determine whether the formula (p ∨ ¬q) → (p ∧ q) is true whenever
¬p is true.

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Instructions on how to solve, write, and submit your
homework assignment
Solving Solutions to homework assignments must be your own. Use sample exercises in
lectures and tutorials to learn methods and approaches you can use. In some cases expect that
you will need to make a substantial effort to solve a problem. Discussing and collaborating
with other people is OK, as long as you produce your own solution. For instance, even when
two people try to solve the problem together and extensively discuss possible solutions, if
they write down that solution independently, it is acceptable.
We treat any kind of academic dishonesty very seriously. For the SFU policy on academic
dishonesty see the part of University Policy S 10.01 relevant for us:

e. Cheating in assignments, projects, examinations or other forms of evaluation

by:
i. using, or attempting to use, another student’s answers;
ii. providing answers to other students;
iii. failing to take reasonable measures to protect answers from use by other
students; or
iv. in the case of students who study together, submitting identical or virtually
identical assignments for evaluation unless permitted by the course Instructor or
supervisor.
University Policy S 10.01
Code of Academic Integrity and Good Conduct
4.1.2 Forms of Academic Dishonesty

Note that this policy treats copying and allowing to copy equally. Should anyone be caught
submitting a work too similar to someone else’s work, or a source found on the web, a record
of the violation will permanently stay in their student file.

Writing a solution There is no strict prescribed way to present your solution. However,
make sure that your solution can be understood by another person without any help on
from you. The onus to present your solution in a clear understandable way is on you. Any
unclear steps or arguments will be considered incorrect. For example, if you transform a
propositional formula using laws of logic, it is advisable to specify which law is applied,
except in the simplest situations. If you use some method, or result presented in this course
you do not need to explain it. However, if you would like to use a result or approach from
elsewhere, please, give a reference and explain what you are doing in more details.

Submitting your solution Please use Crowdmark tool to submit your work. If you typed
your solution, upload a pdf. If you wrote it on paper, scan or take a picture. In the latter
case make sure your scan or picture is clear with good lighting and good resolution. Also
note that you can only submit one file, so you may need to combine several pictures.

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 The onus to submit a readable file timely is on you. Submitting after the deadline will
cause a late submission penalty. Also, there will be no submission after I post solutions to
the homework (about 3 days after the deadline).
Sometimes uploaded files get corrupt, please, double check that your uploads are readable.
You can also bring a hard copy of your solution to the class (on Friday) along with Crowdmark
submission.