MATHEMATICAL

THINKING
Implications & Quantifiers
If A=⇒B and B=⇒A are both true, we say
that A and B are logically equivalent
statements and write A⇐⇒B. The sign is
read as ‘if and only if ’ and the statement
is called a bi conditional statement.
The integer n is even if and only if n + 1
is odd.
De Morgan’s Laws (DML)
1. ￢ (P∨Q)⇔ ￢ P∧ ￢ Q.
2. ￢ (P∧Q)⇔ ￢ P∨ ￢ Q.
 You can fool all the people some of the
time, and some of the people all the time,
but you cannot fool all the people all the
time.
Abraham Lincoln
Quantifiers
For all – the universal quantifier

The phrase ‘for all’ is the universal quantifier. It is

denoted ∀. (This is an upside down A. Think of the A in
‘All’ to remember this.)
(i) ‘For all This says that the square of a real number is positive.
(ii) Let S be a subset of R and U be a real number. ‘For all s ∈ S ⊆ R, s ≤ U.’ This
says that every element of a set S is less than or equal to the number U.
(iii) Let O be the set of odd numbers. ‘For all x ∈ O, is odd.’ This says that, for
odd x, the number is also odd. (This is false, by the way.)
(iv) ‘For all rational numbers x and y, the product and sum are rational.’
Symbolic version
There exists – the existential quantifier

The phrase ‘there exists’ is the existential quantifier. It is

denoted ∃. (This is a backward E. Think of the E in
‘Exists’ to remember it.)
(i) ‘There exists x ∈ Z such that .’ This is true as x = 2 satisfies . Note
that x = −2 also satisfies the equation. Thus, saying there exists an x does not mean
that there is only one such x.
(ii) ‘There exists such that .’ This is not true.
(iii) ‘’Again true, just solve the equation to see this.
Combining the quantifiers
For all there exists such that This can be
written in symbols as
Combination of Quantifiers in writing
definitions:
Let be a subset of the real numbers . We say that S has an
upper bound if there exists such that for all We can write
this as ‘We say that S has an upper bound
if
Warning! The order of quantifiers is
important
Watsamattawith U
Everything is simpler than you think and at
the same time more
complex than you imagine.
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
 Complexity of Quantifiers
■ The more Quantifiers are involved, the
complicated/Complex the statement becomes.

■ The alternation of the ∀ and ∃ causes the complexity.

For example, will, in general, be simpler than
However, since we can replace byjust counting the
number of quantifiers gives a good measure of
complexity.
One quantifier

■ Examples:
(i)
(ii) The number U is an upper bound for if, for all .
(iii) There exists a solution to the equation .
Two quantifiers
■ Examples:
(i) such that
(ii) such that
(iii) ‘There exists an upper bound for .’ Note that here we have hidden a quantifier arising
from the definition of upper bound. The sentence says such that
(iv) ‘There exists a unique x such that P(x) is true.’ This means that there exists an x that
satisfies P(x), but more than that, if y is such that is true, then y is equal to x. We can write
this as
Three and four quantifiers

Suppose is a sequence of numbers. The statement

such that says that the sequence has a limit.
The secret of seeing through the
complexity
‘for all x’ given any x

‘There exist x’ I can find an

x
In Example of limit, is the limit of the sequence if
such that is true.
We can read this as the following. If someone brings me an , then I have to
find a
natural number N so that whenever someone else brings me an bigger than ,
then the condition is satisfied.
Let Determine which of the following statements are true. If a
statement is false, then explain why.
(a)
(b)
(c) (An integer i is a perfect cube if for some integer n.)
Problem: Show that for every pair of natural
numbers, there is a natural number greater
than both of them.

Solution: Obviously this is true. We can rewrite the statement as

From this it is obvious that if someone brings to me an and I
have to find a .
Polished solution: Let . Then as is positive and as is positive.
Negation of quantifiers
■ “For all” negates to “There Exists”

■ That is, to negate a statement we change ∀ to ∃ (and ∃ to ∀)

and negate the sentence after the quantifier.
(i) ‘For all ’ has negation ‘There exists an integer x such that .’
Note that the latter is true. Also note that there is more than one integer with
this property.
(ii) ‘There exists a mathematician who is not intelligent’ has negation ‘All
mathematicians are intelligent.’
(iii) ‘can be written when we consider ‘as a statement. By applying the rules
again we get ‘
Negation of statements with quantifiers

To negate a statement of the form

where iswe do the following:

(i) Change every and every .
(ii) Replace P by its negation.
Write simple Negation

1. Every cat is an animal.

2. Some cat is an animal.
3. No cat is an animal.
4. Someone in this class does not do their homework.
5. Everyone in this class does their homework.
6. Nobody in this class does their homework.
The Logical forms of Former statements
Expressing negation as a positive
statement
1. ENGLISH: “Every cat is an animal.”
LOGICAL FORM:
ENGLISH NEGATION: “It is not the case that every cat is an animal.”
LOGICAL NEGATION:
by Quantifier Negation Law
by Conditional Law.
POSITIVE ENGLISH FORM: “There is a cat that is not an animal.”
ENGLISH: “No cat is an animal.”

LOGICAL FORM:
ENGLISH NEGATION: “It is not the case that no cat is an animal.”

LOGICAL NEGATION:
by Double Negation Law.

POSITIVE ENGLISH FORM: “Some cat is an animal.”

ENGLISH: “Someone in this class does not do their homework.”
LOGICAL FORM:
ENGLISH NEGATION: “It is not the case that someone in this class does not do
their homework.”
LOGICAL NEGATION:
by Quantifier Negation Law
by Conditional Law
by Double Negation Law.

POSITIVE ENGLISH FORM: “Everyone in this class does their homework.”

Express in Positive statement