Problems on

Propositions
Discrete Mathematical Structures
Course Code: 19ECSC202
 Propositions
Let p and q be the propositions “Swimming at the New
Jersey shore is allowed” and “Sharks have been spotted
near the shore,” respectively. Express each of these compound
propositions as an English sentence. Express each of these
propositions as an English sentence.

a) ￢ q b) p ∧ q c) ￢ p ∨ q
d) p → ￢ q e) ￢ q → p f ) ￢ p → ￢ q
g) p ↔ ￢ q h) ￢ p ∧ (p∨ ￢ q)
A ￢q
Sharks have not been spotted near the shore.
B p∧q
Swimming at the New Jersey shore is allowed, and sharks
have been spotted near the shore.
C ￢p∨q
Swimming at the New Jersey shore is not allowed, or
sharks have been spotted near the shore.
D p→￢q
If swimming at the New Jersey shore is allowed, then
sharks have not been spotted near the shore.
E ￢q→p
If sharks have not been spotted near the shore, then
swimming at the New Jersey shore is allowed.
F ￢p→￢q
If swimming at the New Jersey shore is not allowed, then
sharks have not been spotted near the shore.
G p↔￢q
Swimming at the New Jersey shore is allowed if and only if
sharks have not been spotted near the shore.
H ￢ p ∧ (p∨ ￢ q)
Swimming at the New Jersey shore is not allowed, and
either swimming at the New Jersey shore is allowed
2. Let p, q, r, s denote the following statements
p: I finish writing my computer program before lunch
q: I shall play tennis in the afternoon
r: The sun is shining
s: The humidity is low
Write the following in symbolic form.
a. If the sun shining, I shall play tennis this afternoon.
b. Finishing the writing of my computer program before
lunch is necessary for my playing tennis this afternoon.
c. Low humidity and sunshine are sufficient for me to play
tennis this afternoon.
d. If I do not finish writing my computer program before
lunch and the sun is not shining then I shall not play
tennis this afternoon.
 Solutions
a. If the sun shining, I shall play tennis this afternoon.
r → q
 b. Finishing the writing of my computer program before
lunch is necessary for my playing tennis this afternoon.
q → p
c. Low humidity and sunshine are sufficient for me to play
tennis this afternoon.
(s ∧ r) → q
d. If I do not finish writing my computer program before
lunch and the sun is not shining then I shall not play tennis
this afternoon.
 Solutions
3. For each of these sentences, determine whether an inclusive
or, or an exclusive or, is intended. Explain your answer.
a. Anuja likes Vanilla ice cream or Mango ice cream.
Inclusive OR
b. You can pay using U.S. dollars or Indian Rupees.
Exclusive or
c. Experience with C++ or Java is required.
Inclusive OR
d. Lunch includes soup or salad.
Inclusive OR
4. Construct the truth table for the following.
a) p ∧ ￢ p,
b) p ∨ ￢ p,
c) p ⊕ (p ∨ q),
d) (p ∧ q) → (p ∨ q),
e) (p ↔ q) ∨ ( ￢ p ↔ q)
 Solutions
a) p∧￢p
P ￢p p∧￢p
T F F
F T F
 Solutions
b) p∨￢p
P ￢p p∨￢p

T F T

F T T
 Solutions
c) p ⊕ (p ∨ q)
P q (p ∨ q) p ⊕(p ∨ q)
T T T F
T F T F
F T T T
F F F F
 Solutions
d) (p ∧ q) → (p ∨ q)
P q (p ∧ q) (p ∨ q) (p ∧ q) →
(p ∨ q)
T T T T T
T F F T T
F T F T T
F F F F T
 Solutions
e) (p ↔ q) ∨ ( ￢ p ↔ q)

P q (p ↔ q) ￢p ￢p↔q (p ↔ q) ∨
( ￢ p ↔ q)
T T T F F T
T F F F T T
F T F T T T
F F T T F T
 Solutions
5. Show that the LHS and RHS in the following are logically
equivalent using the truth table.
a. ￢ (p ∧ q) ≡ ￢ p ∨ ￢ q

P q (p ∧ ￢ (p ∧ ￢p ￢q ￢p∨￢
q) q) q
T T T F F F F
T F F T F T T
F T F T T F T
F F F T T T T
 Solutions
b. p ∨ (p ∧ q) ≡ p

P q (p ∧ q) p ∨ (p ∧ q) P
T T T T T
T F F T T
F T F F F
F F F F F
 Solutions
c. p→q≡￢p∨q
P q (p ∧ q) ￢p ￢p∨q p→q
T T T F T T
T F F F F F
F T F T T T
F F F T T T
 Solutions

d. p→q≡￢q→￢p

P q ￢p ￢q ￢p p→q ￢q→￢p
T T F F F T T
T F F T F F F
F T T F T T T
F F T T T T T
Logical Equivalence: Laws of Logic
Names Equivalences
p∧T ⇔ p
Identity Law
p∨F ⇔ p
p∨T ⇔ T
Domination Law
p∧F ⇔ F
p∨p ⇔ p
Idempotent Law
p∧p ⇔ p
Double negation Law ¬¬p ⇔ p
p∨q ⇔ q∨p
Commutative Law
p∧q ⇔ q∧p
Logical Equivalence: Laws of Logic
Names Equivalences
(p∨q)∨r ⇔ p∨(q∨r)
Associative Law
(p∧q)∧r ⇔ p∧(q∧r)
p∨(q∧r) ⇔
Distributive Law (p∨q)∧(p∨r)
p∧(q∨r) ⇔ (p∧q)∨(p∧r)
¬(p∧q) ⇔ ¬p ∨ ¬q
De Morgan’s Law
¬(p∨q) ⇔ ¬p ∧ ¬q
p ∨ (p ∧ q) ⇔ p
Absorption Law
p ∧ (p ∨ q) ⇔ p
Negation Law p ∧ ¬p ⇔ F
Prove: (pq)  q  pq (without Truth table)
• (pq)  q Left-Hand Statement
•  q  (pq) Commutative
•  (qp)  (q q) Distributive
•  (qp)  T Or Tautology
•  qp Identity
•  pq Commutative
• Show that the LHS and RHS in the following are
logically equivalent using laws of equivalence.
(pq)(p  (p  q))≡ p∧ q
• Solution:Let LHS: (pq)(p  (p  q))
≡(pq)((p  p)  q)) [ by Associative law]
≡(pq)(p  q)) [Idempotent law]
≡ (p (p  q))  (q(p  q)) [By Distributive

law]
≡ ((p p)  q))  (q(p  q)) [By Associative
law]
 Cont….
≡( F q)  (q(p  q))
≡ F  (q(p  q)) [By Domination law]
≡(q(p  q)) [By Identity law]
≡(q(q  p)) [By commutative law]
≡((qq) p) [By associative law]
≡(q p)
≡(p q) [By commutative law]
=RHS
• Determine whether ( ￢ p ∧ (p → q))→ ￢ q is
a tautology using both truth table and laws of
logical equivalence.

P q ￢p ￢q p→q ( ￢ p ∧ (p → ( ￢ p ∧ (p → q))→ ￢ q
q))
T T F F T F T
T F F T F F T
F T T F T T F
F F T T T T T
PT ( ￢ p ∧ (p → q))→ ￢ q not a tautology
• Let LHS: ( ￢ p ∧ (p → q))→ ￢ q
≡( ￢ p ∧ (p → q))→ ￢ q
≡ ￢ ( ￢ p ∧ (p → q))V ￢ q ( P q) = ￢ PVq
≡( ￢ ( ￢ p) V ￢ (p → q))V ￢ q
≡(p V ￢ ( ￢ p V q)) V ￢ q
≡(p V ￢ ( ￢ p) ∧ ￢ q)) V ￢ q
≡(p V ( p ∧ ￢ q)) V ￢ q
≡ pV ￢ q
• Hence it’s not tautology
Prove:p  q p  q (without Truth table)
• p  q
•  (pq)  (qp) Biconditional Equivalence
•  (pq)  (qp) Implication Equivalence
(x2)
•  (pq)  (qp) Double Negation
•  (qp)  (pq) Commutative
•  (qp)  (pq) Double Negation
•  (qp)  (pq) Implication Equivalence (x2)
•  p  q Biconditional
Equivalence