Section 1.

3
Section Summary
 Tautologies, Contradictions, and Contingencies.
 Logical Equivalence
 Important Logical Equivalences
 Showing Logical Equivalence
 Propositional Satisfiability
Tautologies, Contradictions, and
Contingencies
A compound proposition that is always true, no matter what
the truth values of the propositional variables that occur in it,
is called a tautology. A compound proposition that is always
false is called a contradiction. A compound proposition that is
neither a tautology nor a contradiction is called a contingency.

EXAMPLE: We can construct examples of tautologies and

contradictions using just one propositional variable.
Consider the truth tables of 𝑝¬𝑝 and 𝑝¬𝑝, shown in Table.
Because 𝑝¬𝑝 is always true, it is a tautology. Because 𝑝¬𝑝
is always false, it is a contradiction.
Tautologies, Contradictions, and
Contingencies

EXAMPLE: Show that the following conditional statement is a

tautology by using truth tables
𝑝𝑞 → 𝑝 → 𝑞
Solution
Logically Equivalent
 The compound propositions p and q are called logically equivalent if p ↔
q is a tautology. The notation p ≡ q denotes that p and q are logically
equivalent.
 Two compound propositions p and q are equivalent if and only if the
columns in a truth table giving their truth values agree.
 This truth table shows that ¬p ∨ q is equivalent to p → q.

p q ¬p ¬p ∨ q p→ q
T T F T T
T F F F F
F T T T T
F F T T T
De Morgan’s Laws
Augustus De Morgan

1806-1871

EXAMPLE: Show that ¬ 𝑝𝑞 and ¬𝑝¬𝑞 are logically equivalent.

Logically Equivalent
 EXAMPLE: Show that p → q and ¬𝑝𝑞 are logically equivalent.
(This is known as the conditional disjunction equivalence.)
 Solution
Logically Equivalent
 EXAMPLE: Show that p ∨ (q ∧ r) and (p ∨ q) ∧ (p ∨ r) are
logically equivalent. This is the distributive law of disjunction
over conjunction.
 Solution
Logical Equivalences
Logical Equivalences Involving Conditional
and Biconditional Statements.
Constructing New Logical Equivalences
 We can show that two expressions are logically equivalent by
developing a series of logically equivalent statements.
 To prove that we produce a series of equivalences
beginning with A and ending with B.

 Keep in mind that whenever a proposition (represented by a

propositional variable) occurs in the equivalences listed earlier,
it may be replaced by an arbitrarily complex compound
proposition.
Constructing New Logical Equivalences
 EXAMPLE: Show that ¬ 𝑝 ¬𝑝𝑞 and ¬𝑝¬𝑞 are logically
equivalent by developing a series of logical equivalences.
 Solution
 Constructing New Logical Equivalences
 EXAMPLE : Show that (p ∧ q) → (p ∨ q) is a tautology.
Satisfiability
 A compound proposition is satisfiable if there is an
assignment of truth values to its variables that makes it
true (that is, when it is a tautology or a contingency).
 When no such assignments exists, that is, when the
compound proposition is false for all assignments of truth
values to its variables, the compound proposition is
unsatisfiable.
Satisfiability
 EXAMPLE: Determine whether each of the compound propositions
𝑝¬𝑞  𝑞¬𝑟  𝑟¬𝑝 and 𝑝𝑞𝑟  ¬𝑝¬𝑞¬𝑟 is
satisfiable.
 Solution
 Note that 𝑝¬𝑞  𝑞¬𝑟  𝑟¬𝑝 is true when the three
variables p, q, and r have the same truth value. Hence, it is
satisfiable as there is at least one assignment of truth values for p, q,
and r that makes it true.
 Similarly, note that 𝑝𝑞𝑟  ¬𝑝¬𝑞¬𝑟 is true when at least
one of p, q, and r is true and at least one is false. Hence,
𝑝𝑞𝑟  ¬𝑝¬𝑞¬𝑟 is satisfiable, as there is at least one
assignment of truth values for p, q, and r that makes it true.
Solving Satisfiability Problems
 A truth table can be used to determine whether a
compound proposition is satisfiable, or equivalently,
whether its negation is a tautology. This can be done by
hand for a compound proposition with a small number of
variables, but when the number of variables grows, this
becomes impractical. For instance, there are 220
= 1,048,576 rows in the truth table for a compound
proposition with 20 variables. Thus, you need a computer
to help you determine, in this way, whether a compound
proposition in 20 variables is satisfiable.