Mathematics in the Modern

World
Lesson II:
Logic and Sets
 Propositions

A proposition is a declarative sentence that can be objectively identified

as either true or false, but not both.

If a proposition is true, then its truth value is true and is denoted by T or 1;

otherwise, its truth value is false and is denoted by F or 0.

Symbolically, we denote propositions in this lesson using lower case letters,

such as p, q, r, s, etc.
 Determine whether the following
are proposition or not
(1) Douglas MacArthur arrived in the Philippines in 1521.
(2) Are you insane?
(3) 2 is an irrational number.
(4) Find all x such that 𝑥 𝑒−𝑥= 2.
(5) Is that your laptop?
(6) Basketball players are handsome.
(7) There is life in other planets.
(8) Welcome to the Philippines!
 Answers
 Immediately, we find that sentences (2), (4), (5), and (8) are not declarative
sentences, so they are not propositions.
 Sentence (1) is a proposition because Douglas MacArthur either arrived in the
Philippines in 1521 or not. In fact, this proposition is false because historical
records shows that Douglas MacArthur arrived in the Philippines some time in
1900s.
 Sentence (3) is clearly a true proposition. Although statement (6) is a declarative
sentence, it cannot be considered a proposition because the meaning of the word
“handsome” is subjective in nature. Unless we could agree on an objective
definition of “handsome”, then statement (6) cannot be considered a proposition .
 Finally, statement (7) is a proposition.Whether there is life or not in other
planets, it doesn’t reallymatter.The fact that this sentence is either true or false,
and cannot be both true and false, makes it a proposition. For this example, we
still don’t have enough evidence to claim that proposition (7) is true yet, and we
don’t have a proof that it is false either. Hence, only time will tell when can we
assign a truth value for (7), but certainly, it has a truth value.
 Logical Connectives
 Mathematical statements may be joined by
logical connectives which are used to
combine simple propositions to compound
statements.These connectives are:
➢CONJUCTION
➢DISJUNCTION
➢NEGATION
➢IMPLICATION
➢BICONDITIONAL
 Truth Table
 The truth value of propositions is presented in a truth table.
 It displays relationships between the truth values of propositions.
 It is especially valuable in determination of the truth values of propositions
constructed from simpler propositions
 Conjunction
 The conjunction of the propositions p and q is the compound statement “p
and q” denoted as p ^ q which is true only when both p and q are true.
Otherwise , it is false.

p q p^q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F F
 Disjunction
 The disjunction of the propositions p and q is the compound statement “p or
q” denoted as p v q which is false only when both p and q are false.
Otherwise , it is true.

p q pvq
T T T
T F T
F T T
F F F
 Negation
 The negation of a statement p is denoted by ¬ p where ¬ is the symbol for
not .The truth value of the negation is always the reverse of the truth value
of the original statement

p ¬p
T F
F T
 Implication
 The implication of the propositions p and q is the compound statement “if p,
then q” denoted as p ՜ q which is false only when both p is true and q is
false

p q p՜q
T T T
T F F
F T T
F F T
 Negation
 The bi-conditional of the propositions p and q is the compound statement “p
if and only if q” denoted as p՞ q which is true only when both p and q have
the same truth values

p q
p՞ q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F T
 Construct the truth table for each
of the following statement
➢ ¬p v ¬q

p q ¬p ¬q ¬p v ¬q
T T F F F
T F F T T
F F T T T
F T T F T
 Construct the truth table for each
of the following statement
 (¬p ^ q) v (p ^ ¬ q)

p q ¬p ¬q ¬p ^q p ^¬q (¬p ^ q) v (p ^ ¬ q)

T T F F F F F
T F F T F T T
F F T T F F F
F T T F T F T
Construct the truth table for each
of the following statement
(p ՜ q) ՜ (p ^ q)

p q p՜q p^q (p ՜ q) ՜ (p ^ q)
T T
T F
F F
F T
Construct the truth table for
each of the following statement
[(p v ¬q) ^¬r]^ ¬(pvq)
Construct the truth table for each
of the following statement
(p՞ q) ՜ (¬p՞q)

p q ¬p
p՞ q ¬p՞q (p՞ q) ՜ (¬p՞q)

T T
T F
F F
F T
 Set
➢A set is a collection of well-defined
objects.
➢ The individual objects in a set are called
the members or elements and is denoted
by ∈.
➢ A set is well-defined if it is possible to
decide whether an object belongs to a
given set or not.
Two Ways of Describing a Set
 There are two ways of describing a set,
namely: the tabular or roster method and
the rule method.

✓The tabular or roster method enumerates or lists

the distinct elements of a set

✓ The rule method makes use of description by giving

the common characteristics of the elements.