MATHEMATICAL REASONING

MATHEMATICAL LOGIC

Statements or propositions
Propositions : A statement or a proposition is an assertive (or declarative) sentence which is either
true or false but not both a true statement is called valid statement. If a statement is false, then it is called
invalid statement.

ASSERTIVE SENTENCE: A sentence that makes an assertion is called an assertive sentence or a

declarative sentence.
IMPERATIVE SENTENCE: A sentence that expresses a request of a command is called an imperative
sentence.
EXCLAMATORY SENTENCE: A sentence that expresses some strong feeling is called an
exclamatory sentence.
INTERROGATIVE SENTENCE: A sentence that asks some question is called an interrogative
sentence.

Connective Symbol Nature of the Compound statement

formed by using the connective
and Conjuction
Or Disjunction
If … then Implication or conditional
If and only if (iff) Equivalence or bio-conditional
Not Negation

Truth table for conjunction

p q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F F

Truth table for disjunction

p q
T T T
T F T
F T T
F F F

Truth Table for Negation: Clearly, if p is true, then ~ p is false; and if p is false, then ~ p is true.
Thus, we have the following truth table for negation.
p ~p
T F
F T

CONDITIONAL AND BICONDITIONAL STATEMENTS

In Mathematics we come across many statements of the form “if p then q” and “q if and only if q” such
statements are called conditional statements. In this, section we shall discuss about such statements.
IMPLICATION OR CONDITIONAL STATEMENTS
Two statements connected by the connective phrase ‘if…then’ give rise to a compound statement which is
known as an implication or a conditional statement.

Truth table for

p q
T T T
F T T
T F F
F F T

BICONDITIONAL STATEMENT A statement is a biconditional statement if it is the conjunction of

two conditional statements (implications) one converse to the other.

So, we have the following truth table for

p Q
T T T T T
T F F T F
F T T F F
F F T T T

1. If p is any statement, then prove that

2. If p and q are two statement, prove that
(i) (ii)

TAUTOLOGIES AND CONTRADICTIONS

Let p, q, r, … be statements, then any statement involving p, q, r, … and the logical connectives
is called a statement pattern or a well-formed formula.
For example,
(i) (ii)
(iii)
(iv) etc. are statement patterns.
NOTE A statement is also a statement pattern.

Negation of compound statements

We have learnt about negation of a simple statement. Writing the negation of compound statements
having conjunction, disjunctions, implication, equivalence, etc, is not very simple. So, let us discuss the
negation of compound statement.
(i) Negation of conjuntion :
If p and q are two statements, then
(ii) Negation of disjuntion :
If p and q are two statements, then
(iii) Negation of implication :
 If p and q are two statements, then
(iv) Negation of biconditional statement or equivalence :
If p and q are two statements, then

Tautologies and contradictions

Let be statements, then any statement involving ,....and the logical connectives
is called a statement pattern or a Well Formed Formula (WFF).
For example
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv) etc.
are statement patterns.
A statement is also a statement pattern.
Thus, we can define statement pattern as follows.
Statement pattern : A compound statement with the repetitive use of the logical connectives is called
a statement pattern or a well- formed formula.
Tautology : A statement pattern is called a tautology, if it is always true, whatever may be the truth
values of constitute statements.
A tautology is called a theorem or a logically valid statement pattern. A tautology, contains only T in
the last column of its truth table.
Contradiction : A statement pattern is called a contradiction, if it is always false, whatever may the
truth values of its constitute statements.
In the last column of the truth table of contradiction there is always F.
 The negation of a tautology is a contradiction and vice versa.
Algebra of statements
In the previous section, we have seen that statements satisfy many standard results. In this section, we
shall state those results as laws of algebra of statements.
The following are some laws of algebra of statements.
(i) Idempotent laws : For any statement p, we have
(a) (b)
(ii) Commutative laws : For any two statements p and q, we have
(a) (b)
(iii) Association laws : For any three statements p, q, r, we have
(a) (b)
(iv) Distributive laws : For any three statements we have
(a) (b)
(v) Demorgan’s laws : If p and q are two statements, then
(a) (b)
(vi) Identity laws : If t and c denote a tautology and a contradiction respectively, then for any
statement p, we have
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(vii) Complement laws : For any statements p, we have
(a) (b) (c) (d)
where t and c denote a tautology and a contradiction respectively.
(viii) Law of contrapositive : For any two statements p and q, we have

(ix) Involution laws : For any statement p, we have

Converse, Inverse and Contrapositive of an Implication:
If p and q are two statements, then
Implication: pq
Converse: qp
Inverse: pq
Contrapositive  q   p.

1. Consider the following propositions :

P: It rains , q : The street gets flooded .
The proposition “ if it does not rain, then the street does not get flooded “ is represented by
(A) (B) (C) (D)

Ans .(D)
SOLUTION We have ,
: It does not rain, : The street does not get flooded.
If it does not rain, then the street does not get flooded.

2. The logically equivalent proposition of is

(A) (B)
(C) (D)
Ans. (a)
SOLUTION We know that , means p iff q.
Clearly , p iff q is logically equivalent to and i.e
Hence ,

3. is logically equivalent to
(A) (B) p (C) q (D)

Ans. (a)
SOUTOIN We have

where t is a tautology

4. If the inverse of implication is defined as , then the inverse of the proposition

is
(A) (B) (C) (D) none of these

Ans. (b)
SOLUTION The inverse of the proposition is

5. Logical equivalent proposition to the proposition is

(A) (B) (C) (D)
Ans.(b)
SOLUTION By De’ Morrgon ‘s we have

6. Which of the following logically equivalent to ?

(A) (B) (C) (D)
Ans. (d)
SOLUTION We know that

So , option (a) is not correct.

We have,
So , option (b) is correct.

Hence , option (c) is correct.

We have

So, option (d) is correct .

7. Let p and q be two propositions . Then , the contrapositive of the implication is

(A) (B) (C) (D)
Ans. (c)
SOLUTION See definition.

8. is logically equivalent to
(A) (B) (C) (D)
Ans .(c)
SOLUTION We know that

So , option (a) is not correct.

We have

So, option (b) is not correct.

We have,
Hence , option (c) is correct.
9. The logically equivalent proposition of
(A) (B)
(C) (D)
Ans. (b)
SOLUTION We have that the bi – conditional statements is defined as the confunction statements
and i.e.

Hence option (b) is correct.

10. If is false , then the truth values of p, q, r are respectively

(A) T, F, F (B) F,F, F (C) F, T, T (D) T, T, F
Ans. (a)
SOLUTION We know that is false only when p is true and q is false therefore ,
is false only when p is true and is false. But , is false only when truth
values of p, q, r are respectively T , F, F .

11. The compound statements is false , then the truth values of p and q are respectively
(A) T,T (B) T, F (C) F, T (D) F, F
Ans. (b)
SOLUTION We know that is false only when p is true and is false. Therefore,
is false only when p is true and is false
Now, is false if q is false only when p is true and q is false.
Hence,
is false only when p is true and q is false.

12. The false statements in the followings is

(A) is a contradiction
(B) is a contradiction
(C) is a tautology
(D) is a tautology
Ans. (b)
SOLUTION The last column in the truth table of consist of F only. So, is a
contradiction and hence it is not a false statement.
Clearly , is a tautology .
The last column in the truth table for contains T only.
So, it is a tautology.
13. Which of the following is not a proposition ?
(A) 3 is a prime (B) is a irrational
(C) Mathematices is interesting (D) 5 is an even integer
Ans. (c)
SOLUTION Mathematices is interesting is not a proposoition, because its truth value is not known.

14. is
(A) a tautology
(B) a contradiction
(C) a tautology not a contradiction
(D) neither a tautology nor a contradiction

Ans. (b)
SOLUTION The truth table of is as given below :
P Q
T T F F F T F

T F F T T F F

F T T F F T F

F F T T F T F
The last column of the above truth table contains F only. So, the given statements is a contradication.

15. The proposition is

(A) a tautology
(A) a contradiction
(B) both a tautology nor a contradiction
(D) neither a tautology nor a contradiction
Ans. (b)
SOLUTION The trurth table of is as
Follows :
P
T F F T F

F T T F F
Clearly, last column of the above truth table contains F only. So , the given statements is a contradication.

16. Which of the following statements is a tautology

 (A) (B)
(C) (D)

Ans. (B)
SOLUTION The truth table of is a shown below
P Q
T T F F T F T

T F F T T T T

F T T F T T T

F F T T F T T
Clearly , last column of the truth table contains T only.
So, is a tautology

17. Negation of the statements is

(A) (B)
(C) (D)
Ans. (d)
SOLUTION We know that

[By De, Morgan’s laws]

18. Negation of the statements is

(A) (B)
(C) (D)
Ans. (a)
SOLUTION We know that

19. The negation of is

(A) (B) (C) (D)
Ans.(c)
SOLUTION We have

20. Which of the following is always true ?

(A) (B)
(C) (D)
Ans. (a)
SOLUTION We have ,
and
So, option (b) and (d) are not true.
We know that

So, option (c) is not true.

We have,

and,

Hence , option (a) is true.

21. Negation of the statement is
(A) (B)
(C) (D)
Ans. (C)
SOLUTION We know that

22. The contrapositive of is

(A) (B)
(C) (D)
Ans.(c)
SOLUTION We know that the contrapositive of is . Therefore , contrapositive of
is

23. The contrapositive of is

(A) (B) (C) (D)
Ans.(a)
SOLUTION We know that the contrapositive of is . Therefore , contrapositive of
is

Or ,

24. Which of the following statements is a tautology?

(A) (B)
(C) (D)
Ans.(c)
SOLUTION We have ,

So, statements in option (a) is a contradiction.

,which is a contraction
which is a tautology.
is a contradiction .

25. The statements is equivalent to

(A) (B) (C) (D)
Ans.(d)
SOLUTION We have,

26. Let S be a non – empty subset of R . Consider the following statements :

P: There is a rational number such that x > 0.

Which of the following statements is the negation of the statements P?

(A) Every rational number satisfies

(B) and is not rational
(C) There is a rational number such that
(D) There is no rational number such that
Ans. (a)
SOLUTION We know that the negation of “ there exists “ is “ for every “.So , negation of statement P is
statements given in option

27. Consider the following statements :

P: Suman is brilliant
Q: Suman is rich
R: Suman is honest .
The negation of the statements “Suman is brilliant and dishonest if and only if suman is rich “ can be
expressed as:
(A) (B)
(C) (D)

Ans.(b)
SOLUTION The statements “suman is brilliant and dishonest iff suman is rich “ can be expressed as:

The negative of this statements is

28. The only statements among the followings i.e., a tautologies is

(A) (B)
(C) (D)
Ans.(b)
and
So, these two are not tautologes.
We know that

Hence , is a tautology.

29. Let p and q be two statements . Amongest the following , the statements that is equivalent to is
(A) (B) (C) (D)
Ans.(c)
SOLUTION as their truth tables are identical .

So, statements – 1 is true.

Clearly , this is not equivalent to r.

30. Statements – 1 : is equivalent to .

Statements – 2 : is a tautology to r .
(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4
Ans. (c)
SOLUTION Let be the statements . Then ,

So, statements – 1 is true .

Also , is not a tautology. So, statement – 2 is false.
Cearly, this is not equivalent to r.
31. Statement – 1 : is a fallacy
Statement – 2 : is a tautology.
(A) 1 (B) 2 (C) 3 (D) 4
Ans.(b)
SOLUTION We know that Therefore ,

Thus , .
So, statements -2 is true .

Now,

So, statemens -1 is true.

Thus , both the statements are true and statements – 2 is not a correct explanation for statements