2.

2 Conditional Statements
Goal: Students will be able:
 To recognize conditional statements and their parts.
 To write converses, inverses, and contrapositives
of conditional statements.
Conditional Statement
 A statement that can be written in “if – then”
form.
 Symbol: p → q, read if p then q, or p implies q.
 Example:
If it rains on Thursday, then the baseball game
will be canceled. q
p
p
Hypothesis
 The phrase immediately following the word if in a
conditional statement
 The p part following if.

Conclusion
 The phrase immediately following the word then in a
conditional statement.
If p, then q.

Hypothesis Conclusion
Examples 1: Determine Hypothesis and conclusion
If trout are fish, then trout live in a pond.
Hypothesis: trout are fish
Conclusion: trout live in a pond

If you buy a car, then you get $1500 cash back.

Hypothesis: you buy a car
Conclusion: you get $1500 cash back
Got it 1? Identify the hypothesis and conclusion of
each statement.
If an animal is a robin, then the animal is a bird.
Hypothesis: an animal is a robin
Conclusion: the animal is a bird.
If an angle measures 180°, then the angle is obtuse.
Hypothesis: an angle measures 180°
Conclusion: the angle is obtuse
If a polygon has 6 sides, then it is a hexagon.
Hypothesis: a polygon has 6 sides
Conclusion: it is a hexagon
 Example 2: Writing a Conditional
How can you write the following statement as a conditional?
Vertical angles share a vertex.
Step 1: Identify the hypothesis and conclusion.
In order for two angles to be vertical, they must share a vertex.

So the set of vertical angles is inside the set of angles that share a vertex.

Hypothesis: Vertical angles Conclusion: share a vertex.

If two angles are vertical angles, then they share a vertex.

Got it 2? How can you write “Dolphins are
mammals” as a conditional?

If an animal is a dolphin, then it is a mammal.

Mammals

Dolphins
 Truth Value
 Is either true or false
 To show that a conditional is true, show that every
time the hypothesis is true, the conclusion is also
true.
 To show that a conditional is false, find only one
counterexample, where the hypothesis is true, and
the conclusion is false.
Example 3: Finding the truth value of a conditional.
Is the conditional true or false? If it is false, find a
counterexample.

If a number is divisible by 3, then it is odd.

The conclusion is false. The number 12 is divisible by 3, and 12 is even.
Got it? 3: Finding the truth value of a conditional.
Is the conditional true or false? If it is false, find a
counterexample.

If a month has 28 days, then it is February.

False, January has 28 days plus 3 more.

If two angles form a linear pair, then they are supplementary.

True
Negation
 Is the opposite of the original statement
 ~p, read not p
 Symbol: ~
Examples:
p: The sky is blue.
~p: The sky is not blue.
q: A triangle has 4 sides.
~q: A triangle does not have 4 sides.
 Converse, Inverse, and Contrapositive
Statement Formed by Symbols Examples
Conditional Given hypothesis If two angles have the same
and conclusion p →q measure, then they are
congruent.
Converse Exchange the hypothesis If two angles are congruent,
and conclusion of the q →p then they have the same
conditional Measure.

Negate both the hypothesis If two angles do not have

Inverse and conclusion of the ~p → ~q the same measure, then
conditional they are not congruent.

Contrapositive Exchange and Negating

both the hypothesis If two angles are not
~q → ~p congruent, then they do not
and conclusion of the
conditional have the same measure.
Equivalent Statements
 Have the same truth value

The conditional and the contrapositive are equivalent statements.

The converse and the inverse are equivalent statements.

 Biconditional Statements:
 When a conditional statement and its converse are both
true, you can write them as a single biconditional
statement.

A biconditional statement is a statement that contains the

phrase “if and only if.”

 Any valid definition can be written as a biconditional

statement.
Example 1: Rewrite the conditional statement in
if-then form.
All birds have feathers.
Conditional: If it is a bird, then it has feathers.
Two angles are supplementary if they are a linear pair.
Conditional: If two angles are a linear pair, then they are supplementary.
Example 2: Write the converse, inverse, and
contrapositive of the following conditional?
Example 4. Write the definition of perpendicular
lines as a biconditional.
Definition: If two lines intersect to form a right
angle, then they are perpendicular.
Converse: If two lines are perpendicular, then
they intersect to form right angles.
Biconditional: Lines intersect to form right
angles iff they are perpendicular lines.