E lementary

Variables
Logic: Connectives, Quantifiers, Negations and

INTRODUCTION
Logic is the study of methods and principles used to discriminate correct from incorrect
reasoning. As tertiary students, you must know how to reason out logically and test the
validity of an argument about any matter. You will learn about connectives, quantifiers,
negations, and variables which are essentials to modern logic. There is a separate chapter for
other topics under Logic.

Objectives
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to:
 define simple statement and compound statement
 write compound statements using connectives
 express simple and compound statements symbolically
 write the negation of quantified statement.

CONNECTIVES
A declarative sentence is a sentence whose main verb is indicative. A statement is a declarative
sentence that is either true or false but cannot be both. A statement can be simple or compound.
Below are examples of simple and compound statements.
Simple Statements Compound Statements
The highest mountain in the Philippines is Mt. The highest mountain in the Philippines is Mt.
Apo. apo, and the second highest mountain is Mt.
Pulag.
Cebu is the oldest City in the Philippines. We will go to Camiguin island or we will go
to Mactan island.

To create a compound sentence, connectives like and, or, if…the, and if and only if are used.
The symbols p,q, r and s represent simple statement.
SYMBOLS USED FOR CONNECTIVES
Connective Symbols Type of Statement
And ^ Conjunction
O V Disconjunction
 If… then → Conditional
If and only if Biconditional

The first example which is “The highest mountain in the Philippines is Mt.Apo, and the second
highest mountain is Mt. Pulag.” May be written using the following symbols.
Statement Symbol
The highest mountain in the p
Philippines is Mt. Apo
The highest mountain in the
Philippines is Mt. Apo
The highest mountain in the Philippines is Mt.
Apo.
The second highest mountain is Mt. Pulag. q
The highest mountain in the Philippines is Mt. pvq
apo, and the second highest mountain is Mt.
Pulag.

QUESTIONS
Direction: Write the second example of compound statement which is “We will go to Camiguin
island or we will go to Mactan island” using symbols.
Statement Symbol
We will go to Camiguin island.
We will go to Mactan island
We will go to Camiguin island or we will go
to Mactan island

2. It is a declarative sentence is a sentence whose main verb is indicative.

3-6. Give two example of simple statement and two compound statement.

ACTIVITY (Collaboration) and Analysis (Communication)

By group, write five examples of simple statements and five compound statements about
the Philippines. These can be trivia or recent news. Present your work to the class.

Abstraction (Critical Thinking)

Write the compound statements on the activity using the correct symbols
 Compound Statement Symbols
Leni Robredo will run for president if and
only if Bongbong Marcos run.
Robredo files certificate of candidacy as
independent candidate and distances herself
from dilawan brand.
Frontliners in our country worked a lot to
bottle the virus, and we did our part to stay
persevere during these challenging times.
Filipino must strictly follow COVId safety
protocols and make use the technology that
we have in our hands.
Filipinos should stop wasting their time with
“popular” incompetent candidates and start
voting for real politicians who can bring a
positive change in our country.

QUANTIFIERS AND NEGATION

”All freshmen students are graduates of K-!2 Curriculum.” Is a quantified statement
which is a statement containing quantifiers. The words like “all”, there exits” and “at least one”
are used to emphasize the existing something. Words like “none” and “no” deny the existence of
something, and words like “all” and “every stress out that every element satisfies a condition.
These words are called Universal Quantifiers.
Every variable in a mathematical statement has a corresponding quantifier. The
quantifiers are “fir all” and “the exists”. The phrases like “for all x in R” or “for every x in R” is
written as ∀x ∈ R in symbols. The phrases “for some x in R” or “there exists an x in R such that”
is written as ∃x ∈ R.
The Negation of the statement “all freshmen students are graduates of K-!2 Curriculum”
is “Some freshmen students are not graduates of the K-12 Curriculum.
Quantified Statement Negation
No Y are Z Some Y are Z
Some Y are Z No Y are z
Some Y are not Z All Y are Z
All Y are Z Some Y are not Z

QUESTIONS
Direction: Write the negation of each of the following statements.
1. All school gates are open
Negation:
 2. Some drinks in the school canteen are espresso-based.
Negation:
3. No students are wearing their uniforms.
Negation:

ACTIVITY
By pair, write 5 quantified statements together with its negation regarding the latest
news/issues/trends in our country.
Quantified Statements Negation
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

VARIABLES
A variable is sometimes thought of as a mathematical “John Doe” because you can use it as a
placeholder when you want to talk about something but either (1) you imagine that it has one or
more values but you don’t know what they are, or (2) you want whatever you say about it to be
equally true for all elements in a given set, and so you don’t want to be restricted to considering
only a particular, concrete value for it. To illustrate the first use , consider asking.
Is there a number with the following property: doubling it and adding 3 gives the same result as
squaring it?
In this sentence you can introduce a variable to replace the potentially ambiguous
word “it”
Is there a number x with the property that 2x + 3 = x 2 ?
The advantage of using a variable is that it allows you to give a temporary name to what
you are seeking so that you can perform concrete computations with it to help discover its
possible value. To emphasize the role of the variable as a placeholder, you might write the
following:
Is there a number with the property that 2 + 3 = 2 ?
The emptiness of the box can help you imagine filling it in with a variety of different
values, some of which might make the two sides equal and others of which might not.
EXAMAPLE: Writing Sentences Using Variables
 QUESTIONS
Use the variable to rewrite the following sentences more formally.
a. Are there numbers with the property that the sum of their squares equals the square of
their sum?
b. Given any real number, its square is nonnegative.
Solutions
a. Are there numbers a and b with the property that a 2 + b 2 = (a + b) 2 ?
Or: Are there numbers a and b such that a 2 + b 2 = (a + b) 2 ?
Or: Do there exist any numbers a and b such that a 2 + b 2 = (a + b) 2 ?
b. Given any real number r ,r 2 is nonnegative. Or: For any real number r ,r 2 ≥ 0.
Or: For all real numbers r ,r 2 ≥ 0.

ACTIVITY (individual)
For your activity, research about on how to rewrite variables. The cite some examples and
explain it.

Some Important Kinds of Mathematical Statements

Three of the most important kinds of sentences in mathematics are universal statements,
conditional statements and existential statements.
 A Universal Statement says that’s certain property is true for all elements in a set.
(For example: All posive numbers are greater than zero.)

 A Conditional Statements says that if one thing is true then some other thing also has to
be true.
(For example : If 378 is divisible by 18, the 378 is divisible by 6.)
Given a property that may or may not be true, an existential statement says that there is at
least one thing for which the property is true.
(For example: There is a prime number that is even.)
In later sections we will define each kind of statements carefully and discuss all them in detail.
The aim here is for you to realize that combinations of these statements can be expressed in a
variety of different ways. One way uses ordinary language and another expresses the statement
using one or more variables. The exercises are designed to help you start becoming comfortable
in translang from one way to another.

UNIVERSAL CONDITIONAL STATEMENTS

Universal Statements contain some variation of the words “for all” and conditional statements
contain versions of the words “if then.” A universal conditional statement is a statement that is
both universal and conditional. Here is an example:
For all animals a, if a is a dog, then a is a mammal.
One of the most important facts about universal conditional statements is that they can be
rewritten in ways that make them appear to be purely conditional. For example the previous
statement can be rewritten in a way that makes its conditional nature explicit but its universal
nature implicit:
If a is dog, then a is a mammal,
Or: If an animal is a dog, then the animal is a mammal.
The statement can also be expressed so as to make its universal nature explicit and its conditional
nature implicit:
For all dogs a, a is a mammal.
Or: All dogs are mammals.
The crucial point is that the ability to translate among various ways of expressing universal
conditional statements is enormously useful for doing mathematics and many parts of computer
science.
EXAMPLE: Rewriting a Universal Conditional Statement

QUESTIONS
1. It is a statement that is both universal and conditional. ___________
2. A certain property is true for all elements in a set. ___________
3. If one thing is true then some other thing also has to be true. ________
4. Cite an example of universal conditional statements.
5. Cite an example of Universal statement.

ACTIVITY
Fill in the blanks to rewrite the following statement:
For all real numbers x, if x is nonzero then x 2 is positive.
a. If a real number is nonzero, then its square is positive______
b. For all nonzero real number x, ___x^2 is positive____
c. If x __is a nonzero real number____, then _x^2 is positive___
d. The square of any nonzero real number is __positive_____
e. All nonzero real numbers have __positive squares (or: squares that are positive)____

UNIVERSAL EXISTENTIAL STATEMENTS

A universal existential statement is a statement that is universal because its first part says that a
certain property is true for all objects of a given type, and it is existential because its second part
asserts the existence of something. For example:
Every real number has an additive inverse.
In this statement the property “has an additive inverse” applies universally to all real
numbers. :Has an additive inverse” asserts the existence of something – an additive inverse – for
each real number; different real numbers have different additive inverses. Knowing that an
additive inverse is a real number, you can rewrite this statement in several ways, some less
formal and some more formal:
All real numbers have additive inverses
Or. For all real numbers r, there is an additive inverse for r,
Or. For all real numbers r, there is a real number s such that s is an additive inverse for.

Introducing names for the variables simplifies references in further discussion. For
instance, after the third version of the statement you might go on to write: When r is positive, s is
negative, when r is negative , s is positive, and when r is zero, s is also zero.
One of the most important reasons for using variables in mathematics is that it gives you
the ability to refer to quantities unambiguously throughout a lengthy mathematical argument,
while not restricting you to consider only specific values for them.
EXAMPLE: Rewriting a Universal Existential Statement

QUESTIONS
1-2. It is a statement that is universal because its first part says that a certain property is true for
all objects of a given type, and it is existential because its second part asserts the existence of
something. ________
3-5. Give some examples of Universal Existential Statement.

ACTIVITY
Fill in the blanks to rewrite the following statement: Every pot has a lid.
a. All pots __have lids___.
b. For all pots P , there is _a lid for P____.
c. For all pots P , there is a lid L such that _L is a lid for P
Existential Universal Statements

EXISTENTIAL UNIVERSAL STATEMENTS

An existential universal statement is a statement that is existential because its first part asserts
that a certain object exists and is universal because its second part says that the object satisfy es a
certain property for all things of a certain kind. For example:
There is a positive integer that is less than or equal to every positive integer:

This statement is true because the number one is a positive integer, and it satisfies the property of
beingless than or equal to every positive integer. We can rewrite the statement in several ways,
some less formal and some more formal:
Some positive integer is less than or equal to every positive integer.
Or. There is a positive integer m that is less than or equal to every positive integer.
Or. There is a positive integer, such that every positive integer is greater than or equal to m.
Or. There is a positive integer m with the property that for all positive integers
EXAMPLE: Rewriting an Existential Universal Statement
QUESTIONS
1. It is a statement that is existential because its first part asserts that a certain object exists
and is universal because its second part says that the object satisfy es a certain property
for all things of a certain kind. _____________
2-5. Cite four examples of Existential Universal Statement.

ACTIVITY
Fill in the blanks to rewrite the following statement in three different ways:
There is a person in my class who is at least as old as every person in my class.
a. Some __person in my class_ is at least as old as ___every person in my class__.
b. There is a person p in my class such that p is _at least as old as every person in my
class____.
c. There is a person p in my class with the property that for every person q in my class, p
is at least as old as q..  Highlight Add Note Share Quote

The words like all, each, every,

and no(one) are called universal
quan 琀 椀 昀 椀 ers, because
describe
characteris 琀 椀 cs that apply to
everyone.
Words and phrases such as some,
there exists, and (for) at least one
are existen 琀椀 al quan 琀椀昀椀
ers,
because they describe characteris
琀椀 cs of one or more individuals