Discrete Structures (CSC 102)

Lecture 2
Logical Equivalence
Definition:
Two proposition form are called logically Equivalent if and only if
they have identical truth values for each possible substitution of
proposition for their proposition variable.

The logical equivalence of proposition forms P and Q are written

P≡Q
Equivalence of two compound
proposition P and Q

1. Construct the truth table for P.

2. Construct the truth table for Q using the same
proposition variables for identical component
proposition.
3. Check each combination of each truth values of the
proposition variables to see whether the truth value
of P is the same as the truth value of Q.
Equivalence check
a. If in each row the truth value of P is the
same as the truth value of Q, then P and Q
are logically equivalent.

b. If in some row P has different truth value

from Q, then P and Q are not logically
equivalent.
Example

Prove that ¬(¬p) ≡ p ?

Solution:
p ¬p ¬(¬p)
T F T
F T F

As you can see the corresponding values of p and

¬(¬p) are same, hence equivalence is justified.
Example
Show that the proposition forms ¬(pʌq) and ¬pʌ¬q are
NOT Logically Equivalent .
p q p q pʌq ¬(pʌq) ¬pʌ¬q
T T F F T F F
T F F T F T F

F T T F F T F

F F T T F T T
De Morgan’s Law
De Morgan’s Law States that:

The negation of an AND proposition is

logically equivalent to the OR proposition in
which each component is negated.

The negation of an AND proposition is

logically equivalent to the OR proposition in
which each component is negated.
Symbolically (De Morgan’s Law)

1. ¬(pʌq) ≡ ¬p˅¬q
2. ¬(p ˅ q) ≡ ¬pʌ¬q
Applying De Morgan’s Law)

Question: Negate the following compound proposition.

1. John is Six feet tall and he weighs at least 200
pounds.
2. The bus was late OR Tom’s watch was slow.
Solution

1. John is not Six feet tall OR he weighs

less than 200 pounds.
2. The bus was not late and Tom’s watch
was not slow.
Inequality and De Morgan’s Law

Question use the De Morgan’s laws to write the

negation of:
-1<x<=4

Solution: The given proposition is equivalent to:

-1<x AND x<=4

By De Morgan Law the negation is:

-1>=x OR x>4
Tautology and Contradiction
Definition: A tautology is a proposition form that is
always true regardless of the truth values of the
individual proposition substituted for its proposition
variables. A proposition whose form is tautology is
called tautological proposition.

Definition: A contradiction is a proposition form that is

always False regardless of the truth values of the
individual proposition substituted for its proposition
variables. A proposition whose form is contradiction
is called contradictory proposition.
Example

Show that the proposition form p˅¬p is a tautology

and proposition form pʌ¬p is a contradiction.

p ¬p p˅¬p pʌ¬p
T F T F
F T T F

Exercise: if t is a tautology and c is contradiction,

show that p˅t ≡ t, and pʌc ≡ c ?
Laws of Logic
1. Commutative laws:
pʌq ≡ qʌp; p˅q ≡ q˅p

2. Associative laws:
pʌ(qʌr) ≡ (pʌq)ʌr; p˅(q˅r) ≡ (p˅q)˅r

3. Distributive laws:
pʌ (q˅r) ≡ (pʌq)v(pʌr)
p ˅ (qʌr) ≡ (pvq) ʌ(pvr)
Laws of Logic cont…

1. Identity laws:
pʌt ≡ p; p˅c ≡ p

2. Negation laws:
pv¬p ≡ t; pʌ¬p ≡ c

3. Double Negation Law:

¬ (¬p) ≡ p
4. Idempotent Law:
pʌp ≡ p ; pvp ≡ p
Laws of Logic cont…
8. Universal Bound Laws

pvt ≡ t; pʌc ≡ c
9. Absorption Laws:
pʌ(pvq) ≡ p; pv(pʌq) ≡ p
10. Negation of t and c
¬t ≡ c; ¬c ≡t
Compound Propositions
Lecture Summery
• Logical equivalence
• Equivalence Check
• Tautologies and Contradictions
• Laws of logic
• Simplification of compound proposition