DISCRETE STRUCTURES

Lecture # 2
Compound Statements, Truth Table Basic Logic Connectives,
Tautologies & Contradictions

Summiya Alam
 LECTURE CONTENTS

 Symbolic representation of statements

 Symbolic Representation of logical connectors
 Translating from statements to statement forms and vice versa
 Truth Tables for AND, OR, NOT, XOR
 LOGICAL CONNECTIVES AND
COMPOUND STATEMENTS

• In mathematics, the letters x,y,z,… often denoted variables that can be replaced
by real numbers, and these variables can be combined with the familiar
operations +,*,‐ and division.
• In logic, the letters p,q,r,… denotes propositional variables; that is, variables
that can be replaced by statements.
• we can write;
• p: The sun is shining today
• q: it is cold
 COMPOUND STATEMENT CONT..

• Statements or propositional variables can be combine by logical connectives to

obtain compound statements.
• For example, we may combine the proceeding statements by the connective
and to form the compound statement p and q.
• The sun is shining today and it is cold.
• The truth value of a compound statement depends only on the truth values of
the statements being combined and on the types of connectives being used.
 EXAMPLES

• “3 + 2 = 5” and “Lahore is a city in Pakistan”

• “The grass is green” or “ It is hot today”
• “Discrete Mathematics is not difficult to me”
AND, OR, NOT are called LOGICAL CONNECTIVES
SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION OF
LOGICAL CONNECTORS
 COMPOUND STATEMENT -EXAMPLE

p = “Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan”

q = “17 is divisible by 3”

Find:
 p∧q
 p∨q
 ~p
 COMPOUND STATEMENT - SOLUTION

 p ∧ q = “Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and 17 is divisible by 3”

 p ∨ q = “Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan or 17 is divisible by 3”
 ~p = “It is not the case that Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan” or simply
“Islamabad is not the capital of Pakistan”
 TRANSLATING FROM ENGLISH
SENTENCES TO SYMBOLS

Let p = “It is hot”, and q = “ It is sunny”

• Symbolic form of the following sentences:

• 1. It is not hot. ~p
• 2. It is hot and sunny. p∧q
• 3. It is hot or sunny. p ∨q
• 4. It is not hot but sunny. ~ p ∧q
• 5. It is neither hot nor sunny. ~p∧~q
 EXAMPLE

• h = “Zia is healthy”
• w = “Zia is wealthy”
• s = “Zia is wise”

• Translate the compound statements to symbolic form:

• 1) Zia is healthy and wealthy but not wise.

• 2) Zia is not wealthy but he is healthy and wise.
• 3) Zia is neither healthy, wealthy nor wise.
 EXAMPLE - SOLUTION

• Zia is healthy and wealthy but not wise.

• (h ∧ w) ∧ (~ s)

• Zia is not wealthy but he is healthy and wise.

• ~ w ∧ (h ∧ s)

• Zia is neither healthy, wealthy nor wise.

• ~h∧~w∧~s
 TRANSLATING FROM SYMBOLS TO
ENGLISH

• m = “Ali is good in Mathematics”

• c = “Ali is a Computer Science student”

Translate the following statement forms into English:

1) ~ c
2) c ∨ m
3) m ∧ ~ c
 TRANSLATING FROM SYMBOLS TO
ENGLISH

Solution:
1) ~c
Ali is not a Computer Science student

2) c∨m
Ali is a Computer Science student or good in Mathematics.

3) m∧~c
Ali is good in Mathematics but not a Computer Science Student
 TRUTH TABLE

• A truth table specifies the truth value of a compound proposition for all
possible truth values of its constituent propositions.
• Truth table can be formed for all type of connectives
 CONNECTIVES

• Negation: (~) if p is a statement, ~p means not p or it is not the case that p.

• It follows that if p is true, then ~p is false and if p is false then ~p is true. You
can see Truth table
 EXAMPLES

Give the negation of the following statements

• p: 2+3>1
• q: it is cold.

• Solution
a) ~p: 2+3 is not greater than 1. i.e. ~p: 2+3 ≤1. Since p is true in this case,
~p is false.
b) ~q: it is not the case that it is cold. More simply ~q: it is not cold.
 CONJUNCTION (∧)

• If p and q are statements, then the conjunction of p and q is “p and q”, denoted
as “p ∧ q”.
• p ∧ q is true only when both p and q are true.
• If either p or q is false, or both are false, then p ∧ q is false.
CONJUNCTION (∧)
 EXAMPLES

• p: it is snowing ; q: I am feeling cold

• p: 2 < 3 ; q: ‐5 > ‐8
• p: it is snowing ; q: 3 < 5

Solution
• pᴧq: It is snowing and I am feeling cold.
• pᴧq : 2 < 3 and ‐5 > ‐8.
• It is snowing and 3 < 5.
 DISJUNCTION (∨) OR INCLUSIVE OR

• If p and q are statements, the disjunction of p and q is the compound statement

p or q, denoted by p˅q. The compound statement p or q is true if at least one
of p or q is true; it is false when both p and q are false.
 DISJUNCTION (∨) OR INCLUSIVE OR

• You can observe values in truth table:

 EXAMPLE

Form the disjunction of p and q for each of the following.

• p: 2 is a positive integer.
• q: √2 is a rational number.
• pVq=?
• p: 2+3≠ 5
• q: London is the capital of France.
• pVq=?
 EXCLUSIVE OR

• Exclusive / or exclusive disjunction is a logical operation that outputs true only

when inputs differ.
• When OR is used in its exclusive sense, The statement “p or q” means “p or q
but not both or p or q and not p and q” which translates into symbols as (p ∨ q)
∧ ~ (p ∧ q). It is abbreviated as p ⊕ q or p XOR q
EXCLUSIVE OR
 TRUTH TABLE- EXERCISE

1. ~ p ∧ q
2. ~ p ∧ (q ∨ ~ r)
3. (p∨q) ∧ ~ (p∧q)
~ P ∧ Q
~ P ∧ (Q ∨ ~ R)
(P ∨ Q) ∧ ~ (P ∧ Q)
THANK YOU