Section 3.

2 Truth Tables,
Equivalent Statements, and
Tautologies
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this lesson, the students are expected to:
1. construct truth tables for compound statements
involving
2. identify if the statements are tautologies or self-
contractions; and
3. determine equivalent statements.
Now, we consider methods of constructing truth tables
for a statement that involves a combination of
conjunctions, disjunctions, and/or negations.
If the given statement involves only two simple statements,
then start with a table with four rows (see the table below),
called the standard truth table form, and proceed as shown
in Example 3.2.1.
Compound statements that involve exactly three
simple statements require a standard truth table
form with 23 = 8 rows, as shown below.
Example 3.2.1
a. Construct a truth table for .
b. Use the truth table from part (a) to determine
the truth value of , given that p is true and q is
false.
Solution.
a. Start with the standard truth table form and
then include a column.
Solution. (cont)

Now use the truth values from the and columns

to produce the truth values for as shown in the
rightmost column of the following table.
Solution. (cont)
Negate the truth values in the column to produce
the following.
Solution. (cont)
As our last step, we form the disjunction of with and place
the results in the rightmost column of the table. See the
following table. The shaded column is the truth table for .
Solution. (cont.)

b. In row 2 of the above truth table, we see that

when p is true, and q is false, the statement in
the rightmost column is true.
Alternative Method for the
Construction of a Truth Table
In Example 3.2.2 we use an alternative procedure to
construct a truth table.
Example 3.2.2 Construct a truth table for (p q) p.
Solution.
Step 1: The given statement (p q) p has two simple statements
p and q. Thus, we start with a standard form that has = 4 rows.

p q ( p q ) p

T T

T F

F T

F F
Solution. (cont.)
Step 2. In each column, enter the truth values for the statements
p, ~q, and ~q as shown in the columns numbered 1, 2, and 3 of
the following table.
1 2 3

p q ( p q ) p

T T T F F

T F T T F

F T F F T

F F F T T
Solution. (cont.)
Step 3. Use the truth values in columns 1 and 2 to determine the truth
values to enter under the “and” connective. See column 4 in the following
truth table.

1 4 2 3

p q ( p q ) p

T T T F F F

T F T T T F

F T F F F T

F F F F T T
Solution. (cont.)
Step 4. Use the truth values in the columns 3 and 4 to determine
the truth values to enter under the “or” connective. See column 5
in the following table. The entries in column 5 are the truth values
for (p q) p.
1 4 2 5 3

p q ( p q ) p

T T T F F F F

T F T T T T F

F T F F F T T

F F F F T T T
Equivalent Statements
Definition 3.2.1 Two statements are equivalent if
they both have the same truth value for all
possible truth values of their simple statements.
Equivalent statements have identical truth values
in the final columns of their truth tables.

The notation is used to indicate that the

statements p and q are equivalent.
Example 3.2.3 Show that and are
equivalent statements.
Solution.
We construct the two truth tables and compare the results.

T T F T F T T F F
T F T T F T F F F
F T F F T F T T T
F F T T F F F T F
Solution.

Since the truth tables show that ∼(𝑝⋁∼𝑞) and

∼𝑝⋀𝑞 have the same truth values for all possible
truth values of their simple statements, we
conclude that ∼(𝑝⋁∼𝑞) .
De Morgan’s Laws for Statements
For any statements and ,

This equivalences can be used to restate certain

English sentences in an equivalent form.
Example 3.2.4 Use De Morgan’s law to restate
the given sentence in an equivalent form.
It is not true that, I graduated or I got a job.
Solution.
Let p be the statement “I graduated” and q be
the statement “I got a job.”
Then, in symbolic form, the given sentence is
. By De Morgan’s law,
.
Thus, the given sentence is equivalent to
“I did not graduate and I did not get a job.”
 Tautologies and
Self-Contradictions
Definition 3.2.2 A tautology is a statement
that is always true.

Definition 3.2.3 A self-contradiction is a

statement that is always false.
Example 3.2.5 Show that is a tautology.
Solution.
T T F T T
T F F F T
F T T T T
F F T T T

The final column of the table shows that the

statement is always true.
Thus, is a tautology.
Exercises 3.2
1. Construct a table for the following statements:
a.
b.

2. Are the statements and equivalent?

3. Determine whether each of the following statements is a tautology.

a. p ∨ (p ∧ q)
b. p ∧ q
REFERENCES
1. Augustine, K. (2018). Algebra, Arithmetic, Statistics, and Probability. A Mathematical
Book for High Schools and Colleges.
2. Burton, D. (2011). Elementary Number Theory, Seventh Edition. The McGraw Hill
Companies.
3. Daligdig, R.M. (2019). Mathematics in the Modern World. Lorimar Publishing, Inc.
Carpio, J.N. and Peralta, B.D. (2018). Mathematics in the Modern World. Books Atbp.
Publishing Corp.
4. Finston, D. (et al) (2014). Abstract Algebra Structure and Application. Springer
International 5. Publishing Switzerland.
6. Olejan, R.O., Veloria, E.V., Bonghanoy, G.B., Ondaro, J.E.,and Sumalinog, J.D.
(2018). Mathematics in the Modern World. MUTYA Publishing House, Inc.
7. Manlulu, E.A. and Hipolito, L.M. (2019). A Course Module for Mathematics in the
Modern World. Rex Book Store, Inc.
8. Zhou, X. (2015). Number Theory Modular Arithmetic. Math for Gifted Students.
http://www.mathallstar.org.