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Propositional logic

A proposition is simply a statement.

Propositional logic (PL) is the simplest form of logic where all the statements are made by propositions. A
proposition is a declarative statement which is either true or false. It is a technique of knowledge
representation in logical and mathematical form.

propositional logic is a branch of mathematical logic which studies the logical relationships
between propositions (or statements, sentences, assertions) taken as a whole, and connected via
logical connectives.

Example:
1. a) It is Sunday.
2. b) The Sun rises from West (False proposition)
3. c) 3+3= 7(False proposition)
4. d) 5 is a prime number.

Following are some basic facts about propositional logic:

o Propositional logic is also called Boolean logic as it works on 0 and 1.


o In propositional logic, we use symbolic variables to represent the logic, and we can use any
symbol for a representing a proposition, such A, B, C, P, Q, R, etc.
o Propositions can be either true or false, but it cannot be both.
o Propositional logic consists of an object, relations or function, and logical connectives.
o These connectives are also called logical operators.
o The propositions and connectives are the basic elements of the propositional logic.
o Connectives can be said as a logical operator which connects two sentences.
o A proposition formula which is always true is called tautology, and it is also called a valid
sentence.
o A proposition formula which is always false is called Contradiction.
o A proposition formula which has both true and false values is called
o Statements which are questions, commands, or opinions are not propositions such as "Where is
Rohini", "How are you", "What is your name", are not propositions.

Syntax of propositional logic:

There are two types of Propositions:

a. Atomic Propositions
b. Compound propositions
o Atomic Proposition: Atomic propositions are the simple propositions. It consists of a single
proposition symbol. These are the sentences which must be either true or false.

1. a) 2+2 is 4, it is an atomic proposition as it is a true fact.


2. b) "The Sun is cold" is also a proposition as it is a false fact.
o Compound proposition: Compound propositions are constructed by combining simpler or
atomic propositions, using parenthesis and logical connectives.

Example:

1. a) "It is raining today, and street is wet."


2. b) "Ankit is a doctor, and his clinic is in Mumbai."

Logical Connectives:
Logical connectives are used to connect two simpler propositions or representing a sentence logically. We
can create compound propositions with the help of logical connectives. There are mainly five connectives,
which are given as follows:

1. Negation: A sentence such as ¬ P is called negation of P. A literal can be either Positive literal or
negative literal.

Conjunction: A sentence which has ∧ connective such as, P ∧ Q is called a conjunction.


Example: Rohan is intelligent and hardworking. It can be written as,
P= Rohan is intelligent,
Q= Rohan is hardworking. → P∧ Q.
Disjunction: A sentence which has ∨ connective, such as P ∨ Q. is called disjunction, where P and Q are
the propositions.
Example: "Ritika is a doctor or Engineer",
Here P= Ritika is Doctor. Q= Ritika is Doctor, so we can write it as P ∨ Q.
Implication: A sentence such as P → Q, is called an implication. Implications are also known as if-then
rules. It can be represented as
If it is raining, then the street is wet.
Let P= It is raining, and Q= Street is wet, so it is represented as P → Q
Biconditional: A sentence such as P⇔ Q is a Biconditional sentence, example If I am breathing, then
I am alive
P= I am breathing, Q= I am alive, it can be represented as P ⇔ Q.

Following is the summarized table for Propositional Logic Connectives:


Truth Table:
In propositional logic, we need to know the truth values of propositions in all possible scenarios. We can
combine all the possible combination with logical connectives, and the representation of these
combinations in a tabular format is called Truth table. Following are the truth table for all logical

connectives:
Truth table with three propositions:

We can build a proposition composing three propositions P, Q, and R. This truth table is made-up of 8n
Tuples as we have taken three proposition symbols.

Precedence of connectives:

Just like arithmetic operators, there is a precedence order for propositional connectors or logical
operators. This order should be followed while evaluating a propositional problem. Following is the list of
the precedence order for operators:

Precedence Operators

First Precedence Parenthesis

Second Precedence Negation

Third Precedence Conjunction(AND)

Fourth Precedence Disjunction(OR)

Fifth Precedence Implication

Six Precedence Biconditional


Note: For better understanding use parenthesis to make sure of the correct interpretations. Such as ¬R ∨ Q, It
can be interpreted as (¬R) ∨ Q.

Logical equivalence:

Logical equivalence is one of the features of propositional logic. Two propositions are said to be logically
equivalent if and only if the columns in the truth table are identical to each other.

Let's take two propositions A and B, so for logical equivalence, we can write it as A⇔B. In below truth
table we can see that column for ¬A∨ B and A→B, are identical hence A is Equivalent to B

Properties of Operators:
o Commutativity:
o P∧ Q= Q ∧ P, or
o P ∨ Q = Q ∨ P.
o Associativity:
o (P ∧ Q) ∧ R= P ∧ (Q ∧ R),
o (P ∨ Q) ∨ R= P ∨ (Q ∨ R)
o Identity element:
o P ∧ True = P,
o P ∨ True= True.
o Distributive:
o P∧ (Q ∨ R) = (P ∧ Q) ∨ (P ∧ R).
o P ∨ (Q ∧ R) = (P ∨ Q) ∧ (P ∨ R).
o DE Morgan's Law:
o ¬ (P ∧ Q) = (¬P) ∨ (¬Q)
o ¬ (P ∨ Q) = (¬ P) ∧ (¬Q).
o Double-negation elimination:
o ¬ (¬P) = P.

Limitations of Propositional logic:


o We cannot represent relations like ALL, some, or none with propositional logic. Example:
a. All the girls are intelligent.
b. Some apples are sweet.
Propositional logic has limited expressive power.
In propositional logic, we cannot describe statements in terms of their properties or logical relationships.

Predicates and Quantifiers


What is a predicate?
Predicate Logic deals with predicates, which are propositions containing variables.

Predicate Logic – Definition


A predicate is an expression of one or more variables defined on some specific domain. A predicate with
variables can be made a proposition by either assigning a value to the variable or by quantifying the
variable.
The following are some examples of predicates −

 Let E(x, y) denote "x = y"


 Let X(a, b, c) denote "a + b + c = 0"
 Let M(x, y) denote "x is married to y"

Well Formed Formula


Well Formed Formula (wff) is a predicate holding any of the following −
 All propositional constants and propositional variables are wffs
 If x is a variable and Y is a wff, ∀xY∀xY and ∃xY∃xY are also wff
 Truth value and false values are wffs
 Each atomic formula is a wff
 All connectives connecting wffs are wffs

Quantifiers
The variable of predicates is quantified by quantifiers. There are two types of quantifier in predicate logic
− Universal Quantifier and Existential Quantifier.

Universal Quantifier
Universal quantifier states that the statements within its scope are true for every value of the specific
variable. It is denoted by the symbol ∀∀.
∀xP(x)∀xP(x) is read as for every value of x, P(x) is true.
Example − "Man is mortal" can be transformed into the propositional form ∀xP(x)∀xP(x) where P(x) is
the predicate which denotes x is mortal and the universe of discourse is all men.
Existential Quantifier
Existential quantifier states that the statements within its scope are true for some values of the specific
variable. It is denoted by the symbol ∃∃.
∃xP(x)∃xP(x) is read as for some values of x, P(x) is true.
Example − "Some people are dishonest" can be transformed into the propositional
form ∃xP(x)∃xP(x) where P(x) is the predicate which denotes x is dishonest and the universe of
discourse is some people.
Nested Quantifiers
If we use a quantifier that appears within the scope of another quantifier, it is called nested quantifier.
Example

 ∀ a∃bP(x,y)∀ a∃bP(x,y) where P(a,b)P(a,b) denotes a+b=0a+b=0


 ∀ a∀b∀cP(a,b,c)∀ a∀b∀cP(a,b,c) where P(a,b)P(a,b) denotes a+(b+c)=(a+b)+ca+(b+c)=(a+b)+
c
Note − ∀a∃bP(x,y)≠∃a∀bP(x,y)

A set is uncountable if it contains so many elements that they cannot be put


in one-to-one correspondence with the set of natural numbers. In other words,
there is no way that one can count off all elements in the set in such a way
that, even though the counting will take forever, you will get to any particular
element in a finite amount of time.
Uncountable is in contrast to countably infinite or countable.
The uncountability of a set is closely related to its cardinal number: a set is
uncountable if its cardinal number is larger than that of the set of all natural
numbers.
For example, the set of real numbers between 0 and 1 is an uncountable set
because no matter what, you'll always have at least one number that is not
included in the set. This set does not have a one-to-one correspondence with
the set of natural numbers. The proof of this involves creating an infinite list of
numbers between 0 and 1 such as this.

Mathematical induction, is a technique for proving results or establishing statements for natural
numbers. This part illustrates the method through a variety of examples.

Definition
Mathematical Induction is a mathematical technique which is used to prove a statement, a formula or a
theorem is true for every natural number.
The technique involves two steps to prove a statement, as stated below −
Step 1(Base step) − It proves that a statement is true for the initial value.
Step 2(Inductive step) − It proves that if the statement is true for the nth iteration (or number n), then it is
also true for (n+1)th iteration ( or number n+1).

How to Do It
Step 1 − Consider an initial value for which the statement is true. It is to be shown that the statement is
true for n = initial value.
Step 2 − Assume the statement is true for any value of n = k. Then prove the statement is true for n =
k+1. We actually break n = k+1 into two parts, one part is n = k (which is already proved) and try to prove
the other part.
Applications of Propositional Logic

In the computer science field, propositional logic has a wide variety of applications and hence is
very important. It is used in system specifications, circuit designing, logical puzzles, etc. Apart from
this, it can also be used in translating English sentences to mathematical statements and vice-vers

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