Year 2021-2022

Algebra

Worksheet 1
Logic

Exercise 1 Determine which of the following are propositions:

1. 3 + 3 = 19.

2. It is cold today.

3. The temperature in this room is 20 degrees Celsius.

4. Tuesday is my favorite day.

5. There are a lot of people in here.

6. 23 = 8.

7. 2 is a rational number.

Exercise 2 Give the negation of the following compound statements and determine which one
is true:

1. (2 + 9 = 11) ∧ (2 + 9 = 13).

2. (2 + 3 = 5) ∨ (3 + 4 = 9).

3. ((2 + 9 = 3) ∧ (2 + 9 = 11)) ∨ (3 + 3 = 6).

4. 0 < x ⩽ 5.

5. ∀x ∈ R, x ∈ [1, 2] ⇔ x > 2.

6. ∀x ∈ N, x2 = 1 ⇒ x = 1.

Exercise 3 Let P, Q and R be three propositions. Using the truth table, show that we have
the following equivalences :

1. P ∧ Q ⇔ Q ∧ P .

2. P ∨ Q ⇔ Q ∨ P .

3. ¬(¬P ) ⇔ P .

4. ¬ (P ∧ Q) ⇔ (¬ P ) ∨ (¬ Q).

5. ¬ (P ∨ Q) ⇔ (¬ P ) ∧ (¬ Q).

6. (P ∧ (Q ∧ R)) ⇔ ((P ∧ Q) ∧ R).

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 7. (P ∨ (Q ∨ R)) ⇔ ((P ∨ Q) ∨ R).

8. P ∧ (Q ∨ R) ⇔ (P ∧ Q) ∨ (P ∧ R).

9. P ∨ (Q ∧ R) ⇔ (P ∨ Q) ∧ (P ∨ R).

Exercise 4 On the Island of Knights and Knaves, Knights always tell the truth and Knaves
always lie. In each of the following cases, decide what are A and B.
1. You meet two islanders A and B. A says: I am a knave but he is not.

2. You meet two islanders A and B. A says: I am a knave or B is a knight.

Exercise 5 Replace the dotted lines with the right logical operator: ⇔, ⇒, ⇐.
1. ∀x ∈ R, x2 = 4 · · · x = 2.

2. ∀z ∈ C, z = z · · · z ∈ R.

3. ∀x ∈ R, x = π · · · exp(2ix) = 1.

Exercise 6 Let f be a real function. Translate the following expressions in terms of quantifiers
and then give their negations.
1. f is an increasing function.

2. f is an even function.

3. f is an odd function.

4. f is a decreasing function.

5. f is the zero function.

6. f is strictly monotonic.

Exercise 7 Say whether each of the following statements is true or false.

1. ∃ x ∈ R, ∀ y ∈ R, x + y > 0.

2. ∀ x ∈ R, ∃ y ∈ R, x + y > 0.

3. ∀ x ∈ R, ∀ y ∈ R, x + y > 0.

4. ∃ x ∈ R, ∀ y ∈ R, y 2 > x.

Exercise 8 We define the logical operator ⊕, called exclusive or (xor), by : P ⊕ Q is true if,
and only if, exactly one of the propositions is true.
1. Give the truth table of ⊕.

2. Prove that P ⊕ Q ⇔ (P ∧ ¬Q) ∨ (¬P ∧ Q).

3. Prove in two ways that (P ⊕ Q) ⇔ (P ∨ Q) ∧ ¬(P ∧ Q).

Exercise 9 We want to prove by induction the following proposition : for any natural number
n and any real x ⩾ −1, we have (1 + x)n ⩾ 1 + nx.

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 1. Verify that (1 + nx)(1 + x) = 1 + (n + 1)x + nx2 .

2. Prove the proposition.

Exercise 10 Prove that, for any natural number n, we have

n
X
(n + 1)! ⩾ k!.
k=0

Exercise 11 Prove or disprove the following statement :

∀n ∈ N, n2 + n + 41 is prime.
√ ln 2
Exercise 12 Show that 3 and are not rational numbers.
ln 3
Exercise 13 Let n ∈ N⋆ . Show that if n is a perfect square, then 2n is not a perfect square.
(Reminder : a natural number n is a perfect square if there exists a natural number k such
that n = k 2 .)

Exercise 14 [pigeonhole principle] Prove that if you put away (n + 1) pairs of socks in n
separate drawers, then there is at least one drawer containing at least 2 pairs of socks.
Application : show that it is impossible to place 9 rooks on a chessboard so that they all don’t
threaten each other.

Exercise 15 We want to prove the following property, for n ∈ N⋆ :

If the integer n2 − 1 is not divisible by 8, then the integer n is even.

1. Write the contraposition of the previous proposition.

2. Noting that an odd integer n is written in the form n = 4k + r, with k ∈ N and r ∈ {1, 3},
prove the contraposition and then conclude.

Exercise 16 Let a and b be two reals. Consider the following proposition :

If a + b is irrational, then at least one of a or b is irrational.

1. Give the contraposition of this proposition.

2. Show the truth of the proposition.

3. Is the converse of this proposition always true?

Exercise 17 Let x be a real number. Show that we have :

((∀ε > 0), x ⩽ ε) ⇒ x ⩽ 0.