MODULE 3.

LOGIC

One of the fi rst mathematicians to make a serious study of symbolic logic was
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716). Leibniz tried to advance the study of logic
from a merely philosophical subject to a formal mathematical subject. Leibniz never
completely achieved this goal; however, several mathematicians, such as Augustus
De Morgan (1806–1871) and George Boole (1815–1864), contributed to the
advancement of symbolic logic as a mathematical discipline.

Boole published The Mathematical Analysis of Logic in 1848. In 1854 he published

the more extensive work, An Investigation of the Laws of Thought. Concerning this
document, the mathematician Bertrand Russell stated, “Pure mathematics was
discovered by Boole in a work which is called The Laws of Thought.”

MATHEMATICAL STATEMENTS AND TRUTH VALUES

A mathematical sentence is a sentence that states a fact or contains a complete idea. A sentence
that can be judged to be true or false is called a statement, or a closed sentence.

Truth tables are a way of analyzing how the validity of statements (called propositions) behave
when you use a logical “or”, or a logical “and” to combine them. Propositions are either completely true
or completely false, so any truth table will want to show both of these possibilities for all the statements
made.

A proposition is a declarative sentence that is either true or false but not both. A letter may be
used to represent a proposition. The truth or falsity of a proposition is called its truth value.

Examples: (*All the declarative sentences are propositions.)

1. 3 is an odd integer.

2. Quezon City was once the capital city of the Philippines.

3. 12÷4 = 3
4. Bacolod is in Mindanao.
5. Paris is in France.
6. Today is Wednesday.
7. 8 + 5 = 12
8. La Carlota City is the capital of Negros Occidental.
9. 3 is an integer.
10. 41 is a prime number.
11. R: Rodrigo O. Duterte is the President of the Republic of the Philippines.
12. O: 13 is an odd number.
13. P: A parallelogram is a quadrilateral.
Some sentences that are not propositions are given below:

1. Who are you talking to?

2. Read this sentence carefully.
3. y + 8 = 3
4. u + r = w

* Sentences 1 and 2 are not propositions because they are not declarative sentences. Sentences 3 and 4
are not proposition because they are neither true nor false.

An acceptable proposition is given a decision value true (or T), while an unacceptable statement is
assigned a decision value false (or F). An array of decision value (truth value) is called logical matrix ( or
truth table).

The area of logic that deals with proposition is called propositional logic. The bases for propositional logic
are the three laws of Aristotelian logic. These are:

1. Law of Identity. “A thing is itself”

2. Law of Excluded Middle. “A statement is either true or false but not both.”
3. Law of Non-Contradiction. “No statement is both true and false.”
 Logical Operators
Many Mathematical statements are constructed by combining one or more propositions. These
new propositions are formed from existing propositions using logical operators. The logical operators that
are used to form new propositions from two or more existing propositions are called connectives.

NEGATION

Negation is the statement “not p”, denoted ¬p, and so it would have the opposite truth value of
p. If p is true, then ¬p is false. If p is false, then ¬p is true. Notice that the truth table shows all of these
possibilities.

The phrase is usually represented by a minus sign " - " or a tilde "~" or ¬

For example, "It is not the case that Bill is a curious child" can be represented by "~B"

The truth table for negation is as follows:

Truth Table
p ~p
T F
F T

Original Statement Negation of Statement

Today is Monday. Today is not Monday.

That was fun. That was not fun.

CONJUNCTION

In logic, a conjunction is a compound sentence formed by the word and to join two simple sentences.

The symbol for this is “Λ” or “•” (whenever you see “Λ” or “•” , just read 'and'). When two simple
sentences, p and q, are joined in a conjunction statement, the conjunction is expressed symbolically as
“p Λ q” or “p • q”

Simple Sentences Compound Sentence: Conjunction

p: Joe eats fries. p Λ q : Joe eats fries, and Maria drinks soda.
q : Maria drinks soda.
p: 3 divides 9 p Ʌ q: “3 divides 9 and 3 divides 15”
q: 3 divides 15.
The truth table definition of conjunction is:

Truth Table
p q 𝒑Λ𝒒
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F F

Consider the statement “p and q”, denoted p ∧ q. To analyze this, we first have to think of all the
combinations of truth values for both statements and then decide how those combinations influence the
“and” statement. In words:

Row 1: the two statements could both be true.

In this case, it would make sense that “p and q” is also a true statement.

Row 2: p could be false while q is true.

For “p and q” to be true, we would need BOTH statements to be true. Since one is false, “p and
q” is false.

Row 3: p could be true while q is false.

If this is the case, then by the same argument in row 2, “p and q” is false.

Row 4: the two statements could both be false.

The order of the rows doesn’t matter – as long as we are systematic in a way so that we do not
miss any possible combinations of truth values for the two original statements p, q.

Note: “p and q” is true only when both statements are true (false otherwise)

Some characteristics of conjunction (in mathematical jargon) include:

1. associative - internal grouping is immaterial

i. e.," [(p ∧ q) ∧ r] " is equivalent to " [p ∧ (q ∧ r)] ".

2. communicative - order is immaterial

i. e., " p ∧ q " is an equivalent expression to " q ∧ p ".

3. idempotent - reduction of repetition

i. e., " p ∧ p " is an equivalent expression to " p ".

Example: Suppose statement "Alice is in this room and Betty is in this room, and Charles is in this room"
can, itself, be symbolized as

[(A ∧ B) ∧ C]

The truth of the compound expression is analyzed by substituting in the truth values corresponding to the
facts of the case,

[(T ∧ T) ∧ F]

The compound statement resolves to being false by the following step-by-step analysis in accordance with
the truth table for conjunction:

[(T ∧ T) ∧ F]
[( T ) ∧ F]
[ T ∧ F]
F

DISJUNCTION
Disjunction (or as it is sometimes called, alternation) is a connective which forms compound
propositions which are false only if both statements (disjuncts) are false.

In logic, a disjunction is a compound sentence formed using the word or to join two simple
sentences. The symbol for this is “∨”. (whenever you see ∨ read 'or') When two simple sentences, p and
q, are joined in a disjunction statement, the disjunction is expressed symbolically as p ∨ q.

Other ordinary language conjoiners besides "and" include some uses of "but," "although,"
"however "yet," and "nevertheless."

Simple Sentences Compound Sentence: Disjunction

p: The clock is slow. p ∨ q: The clock is slow, or the time is correct.

q: The time is correct.

The connective "or" in English is quite different from disjunction. "Or" in English has two quite distinctly
different senses.

1. The exclusive sense of "or" is "Either A or B (but not both)" as in "You may go to the left or to the
right." In Latin, the word is "aut."

2. The inclusive sense of "or" is "Either A or B {or both)." as om "John is at the library or John is
studying." In Latin, the word is vel."

* It is the second sense that we use the "vel" or "wedge" symbol: ∨

The truth table definition of the wedge (disjunction) is:

Truth Table
p q 𝒑 𝒒
T T T
T F T
F T T
F F F

Row 1: the two statements could both be true.

Since we are working with the inclusive or, the statement “p or q” will be true in this case.

Row 2: p could be false while q is true.

This is the essence of or. We are saying “one or both of the statements is true”. Therefore, “p or
q” is true in this case.

Row 3: p could be true while q is false.

Same idea as the second row.

Row 4: the two statements could both be false.

Considering the meaning of or, if both statements are false, then it is not true that “p or q”, thus
we list false for this statement.

Note: “p or q” is false only when both statements are false (true otherwise)

Consider the statement, "John is at the Library or he is Studying." If, in this example, John is not at the
library and John is not studying, then the truth value of the complex statement is false:

F ∨ F
F

IMPLICATION
• Let p and q be propositions. The implication 𝑝 → 𝑞 is the proposition that is false when p is true
and q is false, and true otherwise.
• In this implication, p is called premise, antecedent or the hypothesis, and the proposition q is
called the conclusion or consequent.
• If p then q is called a conditional proposition and is denoted by "𝑝 → 𝑞" or "𝑝 ⊃ 𝑞”
• The implication "𝑝 → 𝑞" or "𝑝 ⊃ 𝑞”can be expressed in the following:

“if p then q” “q is necessary for p”

“p implies q” “q follows from p”
“p is sufficient for q”
“a necessary condition for p is q”
 Truth Table
p q 𝑝→𝑞
T T T
T F F
F T T
F F T

Example 1: “If you try hard for your exam, then you will succeed”.
p = you tried hard for your exam
q = you succeed
Case 1: “You tried hard for your exam” and “you succeed”
p = True q = True
Compound proposition p → q is True

Case 2: “You tried hard for your exam” and “you failed”
p = True q = False
Compound proposition p → q is False
Case 3: “You haven’t tried hard for your exam” and “you succeed”
p = False q = True
Compound proposition p → q s True

Case 4: “You haven’t tried hard for your exam” and “you failed”
p = False q = False
Compound proposition p → q is True

For cases 3 and 4, take note that you can only make the compound proposition false when you
satisfy the first condition (p) itself. If not, then we cannot make compound proposition False.

Example 2: “If a polygon is quadrilateral, then it has four sides”.

p = a polygon is quadrilateral
q = has four sides

Case 1: “A polygon is quadrilateral” and “has four sides”

p = true q = true
Compound proposition p → q is True

Case 2: “A polygon is quadrilateral” and “has three sides”

p = True q = False
Compound proposition 𝑝 → 𝑞 is False

Case 3: “A polygon is not quadrilateral” and “has four sides”

p = False q = True
Compound proposition 𝑝 → 𝑞 is True
Case 4: “A polygon is not quadrilateral” and “has three sides”
p = False q = False
Compound proposition 𝑝 → 𝑞 is True

For cases 3 and 4, take note that you can only make the compound proposition false when you
satisfy the first condition (p) itself. If not, then we cannot make compound proposition False.

Practice Work:
Write Compound Statements in Symbolic Form

1. Consider the following simple statements.

p: Today is Friday.
q: It is raining.
r: I am going to a movie.
s: I am not going to the basketball game.

Write the following compound statements in symbolic form.

a. Today is Friday and it is raining.
b. It is not raining and I am going to a movie.
c. I am going to the basketball game or I am going to a movie.
d. If it is raining, then I am not going to the basketball game.

Solution:
▼ check your progress

In the next example, we translate symbolic statements into English sentences.

2. Consider the following statements.

p: The game will be played in Atlanta.
q: The game will be shown on CBS.
r: The game will not be shown on ESPN.
s: The Dodgers are favored to win.
Write each of the following symbolic statements in words.

Solution:
a. The game will be shown on CBS and the game will be played in Atlanta.
b. The game will be shown on ESPN and the Dodgers are favored to win.
c. The Dodgers are favored to win if and only if the game will not be played in Atlanta.
DOUBLE IMPLICATION OR BICONDITIONAL
Definition: Let p and q be two propositions. The biconditional statement of the form 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞 is the
proposition
“p if and only if q”.

• 𝒑 ↔ 𝒒 is true whenever the truth values of p and q are the same

• The biconditional 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞 can be expressed in the following:

“p is necessary and sufficient for q and vice versa”

“if p then q, and conversely”
“p iff q”

Truth Table
p q 𝒑↔𝒒
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F T

Example 1:

Let p be a proposition “You will complete masteral course” and let q be a proposition “You comply with
course requirements”
Then 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞 is the statement : “You will complete masteral course if and only if you comply with course
requirements.”
p = you will complete masteral course
q = you comply with course requirements

EXCLUSIVE OR

Let p and q be propositions. The exclusive or of p and q denoted by p ⊕ q is the proposition that is true
when exactly one of p and q is true and is false otherwise.

Example: Either you can have a glass of milk or a glass of orange juice for breakfast.

The truth matrix for Exclusive Or:

p q p⊕q
T T F
T F T
F T T
F F F
 SUMMARY TRUTH TABLE/ TRUTH MATRIX OF CONJUCTION, DISJUNCTION, CONDITIONAL, BI-
CONDITIONAL AND EXCLUSIVE OR

p p’ q q’ pɅq pvq p→q p↔q p⊕q

T F T F T T T T F
T F F T F T F F T
F T T F F T T F T
F T F T F F T T F

Compound Statements and Grouping Symbols

If a compound statement is written in symbolic form, then parentheses are used to indicate which
simple statements are grouped together. The table below illustrates the use of parentheses to indicate
groupings for some statements in symbolic form.

If a compound statement is written as an English sentence, then a comma is used to indicate

which simple statements are grouped together. Statements on the same side of a comma are grouped
together.

If a statement in symbolic form is written as an English sentence, then the simple statements that
appear together in parentheses in the symbolic form will all be on the same side of the comma that
appears in the English sentence.
Translate Compound Statements
Let p, q, and r represent the following.
p: You get a promotion.
q: You complete the training.
r: You will receive a bonus.

a. Write (p _ q) l r as an English sentence.

b. Write “If you do not complete the training, then you will not get a promotion and you will not receive
a bonus.” in symbolic form.

Solution:
a. Because the p and the q statements both appear in parentheses in the symbolic form, they are placed
to the left of the comma in the English sentence.

Thus the translation is: If you get a promotion and complete the training, then you will receive a bonus.

b. Because the not p and the not r statements are both to the right of the comma in the English sentence,
they are grouped together in parentheses in the symbolic form.

Thus the translation is:

The use of parentheses in a symbolic statement may affect the meaning of the statement. For
instance, ~ (p ۷ q) indicates the negation of the compound statement p ۷ q. However, ~ (p ۷ q)
indicates that only the p statement is negated.
The statement ~ (p ۷ q) is read as, “It is not true that, p or q.” The statement ~ p ۷ q
is read as, “Not p or q.”
Major Connective
When two or more connectives are present in a statement, one of them is the dominant or
major connective. The major connective is shown by using parentheses.

Examples

1. In the statement “x = 1 or x = 2, and y = 3”, the major connective is conjunction.

2. (s Ʌ t) → r, implication

3. {(p → q) Ʌ (q → r)} v q, disjunction

4. (x = 0) v (x > 0 Ʌ y ≠ 1), disjunction

5. [(x = 1) v (x > 1) → (y = 4)] Ʌ (y < z), conjunction