CHAPTE

3
Logic

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Section 3.2 Truth Tables, Equivalent
Statements, and Tautologies

Copyright © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

Truth Tables

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Truth Tables
In this section, 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 1.

Standard truth table form for a given statement that

involves only the two simple statements p and q
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Example 1 – Truth Tables
a. Construct a 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.

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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

Now use the truth values from the ~p and q columns to

produce the truth values for as shown in the
rightmost column of the following table.

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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

Negate the truth values in the column to produce

the following.

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Example 1 – Solution cont’d

As our last step, we form the disjunction of

with q and place the results in the rightmost column of
the table. See the following table. The shaded column is
the truth table for .

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.
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Truth Tables
Compound statements that involve exactly three simple
statements require a standard truth table form with 23 = 8
rows, as shown below.

Standard truth table form for a statement that

involves the three simple statements p, q, and r
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 Alternative Method for the
Construction of a Truth Table

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Alternative Method for the Construction of a Truth Table

In Example 3 we use an alternative procedure to construct

a truth table.

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Example 3 – Use the Alternative Procedure to Construct a Truth Table

Construct a truth table for .

Solution:
Step 1: The given statement has the two
simple statements p and q. Thus we start with a
standard form that has 22 = 4 rows.

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Example 3 – Solution cont’d

In each column, enter the truth values for the statements

p and ~q, as shown in the columns numbered 1, 2, and 3
of the following table.

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Example 3 – Solution cont’d

Step 2: Use the truth values in columns 2 and 3 to

determine the truth values to enter under the “and”
connective. See column 4 in the following truth
table. Now negate the truth values in column
4 to produce the truth values in column 5.

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Example 3 – Solution cont’d

Step 3: Use the truth values in the columns 1 and 5 to

determine the truth values to enter under
the “or” connective. See column 6 in the following
table. Shaded column 6 is the truth table
for

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Equivalent Statements

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Equivalent Statements
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 p  q is used to indicate that the statements p

and q are equivalent.

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Example 4 – Verify That Two Statements Are Equivalent

Show that and are equivalent statements.

Solution:
Construct two truth tables and compare the results. The
truth tables below show that and have the
same truth values for all possible truth values of their
simple statements. Thus the statements are equivalent.

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Equivalent Statements
These equivalences are known as De Morgan’s laws for
statements.

De Morgan’s laws can be used to restate certain English

sentences in an equivalent form.

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Example 5 – State an Equivalent Form
Use one of De Morgan’s laws to restate the following
sentence in an equivalent form.
It is not true that, I graduated or I got a job.

Solution:
Let p represent the statement “I graduated.” Let q represent
the statement “I got a job.” In symbolic form, the original
sentence is . One of De Morgan’s laws states that
this is equivalent to .

Thus a sentence that is equivalent to the original sentence

is “I did not graduate and I did not get a job.”
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Tautologies and Self-Contradictions

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Tautologies and Self-Contradictions
A tautology is a statement that is always true.

A self-contradiction is a statement that is always false.

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Example 6 – Verify Tautologies and Self-Contradictions

Show that is a tautology.

Solution:
Enter the truth values for each simple statement and its
negation as shown in the columns numbered 1, 2, and 3.

Use the truth values in columns 2 and 3 to determine the

truth values to enter in column 4, under the “or” connective.

Use the truth values in columns 1 and 4 to determine the

truth values to enter in column 5, under the “or” connective.

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Example 6 – Solution cont’d

Column 5 of the table shows that is always

true.

Thus is a tautology.

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