Intro to Logic - Midterm Prep

● Translations
● Truth tables
● Normal forms
● Formal proofs
● Set theory

l by Alexandru Babeanu
Translations

Propositional Logic First Order Logic

Objects are part of the predicates. Objects are separated from the
Example: predicates. Example:

A: Anna owes Peter money. anna: Anna

peter: Peter
Predicates are represented by capital OwesMoney(x, y): x owes y money
letters: A, B, P, Q...
Objects are represented by words that
start with a lowercase letter: tom,
scooby, salt...

Predicates are represented by

capitalized words: Likes, Owns,
Costs...
Translations

English Logical Connective

not A ¬A
A
and/but/however/moreover A∧B
/then/because/although/also
B
A or B A∨B
/Either A or B
Neither A nor B ¬(A ∨ B),
/A nor B alternative: ¬A ∧¬B
Translations

English Logical Connective

If A, then B
/ B if A A→B
/ B only if A
/ Only if A, B
B, unless A ¬A → B
/ Unless A, then B
A if and only if B A↔B
/ A just in case B
Common mistakes

Using pronouns instead of object names:

● Peter was at home although he should have been

in school.
● Translation: P ∧ Q
● Key:
○ P: Peter was at home.
○ Q: He should have been in school.
Common mistakes

Using pronouns instead of object names:

● Peter was at home although he should have been

in school.
● Translation: P ∧ Q
● Key:
○ P: Peter was at home.
○ Q: He Peter should have been in school.
 Common mistakes

Getting the order of the connectives wrong:

● Neither a nor b are small cubes.

● Translation: ¬(Small(a) ∨ Small(b)) ∧ ¬(Cube(a) ∨
Cube(b))
● Key:
○ a: a
○ b: b
○ Small(x): x is small
○ Cube(x): x is a cube.
 Common mistakes

Getting the order of the connectives wrong:

● Neither a nor b are small cubes.

● Translation: ¬((Small(a) ∧ Cube(a))∨ (Small(b) ∧ Cube(b)))
● Key:
○ a: a
○ b: b
○ Small(x): x is small
○ Cube(x): x is a cube
 Common mistakes

Exclusive disjunction:
● Scooby is either a cat or a dog.
● Translation:
Dog(scoob) ∨ Cat(scoob) ∧ ¬(Dog(scoob) ∧ Cat(scoob))
● Key:
○ scoob: Scooby
○ Dog(x): x is a dog
○ Cat(x): x is a cat
 Common mistakes

Exclusive disjunction:
● Scooby is either a cat or a dog.
● Translation:
● Dog(scoob) ∨ Cat(scoob) ∧ ¬(Dog(scoob) ∧ Cat(scoob))
● Key:
○ scoob: Scooby
○ Dog(x): x is a dog
○ Cat(x): x is a cat
Truth tables
P ¬P
T F

F T

P Q P∧Q P∨Q P→Q P↔Q

T T T T T T

T F F T F F

F T F T T F

F F F F T T
Truth tables

A B C (A ∧ C) ∨ ¬ (B ∧
¬C)
T T T T T T F F
T T F F F F T T
T F T T T T F F
T F F F T T F T
F T T F T T F F
F T F F F F T T
F F T F T T F F
F F F F T T F T
(1) (2) (3) (4) (8) (7) (6) (5)
Tautology

P ∨ ¬P

P P ∨ ¬P
T T F

F T T

(1) (3) (2)

A sentence is a tautology if it is true in all the rows

of its truth table.
 Logical truth

a=a ∨ a=b
a=a a=b l a=a ∨ a=b

T T T
T F T
F T T
F F F

A sentence is a logical truth if it is true in all the non-spurious

rows of its truth table. A spurious row is a row that cannot
possibly be true.
 TT - possible
A B A∧B A A ∧ ¬A

T T T T F F

T F F T F F

F T F F F T

F F F F F T

A sentence S is TT-possible if and only if in the truth table for

S, there is at least one T in the column under the main
connective of S. A sentence is not TT-possible, also called a
contradiction, if it has F in all the rows under its main
connective.
Logical laws

● commutativity
● distributivity
● associativity
● idempotence
● definability
● law of double negation
● De Morgan
Negation normal form
● All ¬ connectives are applied to atoms only. The sentence
only contains the ¬, ∨ and ∧ connectives.

● In NNF:
■ A
■ ¬A
■ (A ∧ C) ∨ (¬B ∧ ¬C)

● Not in NNF:
■ ¬¬A
■ ¬(A ∧ C)
■ (A ∧ C) ∨ ¬(B ∧ ¬C)
Disjunctive normal form
● The sentence is in DNF if it is a disjunction of
conjunctions of literals. A literal is an atomic
statement or a negated atomic statement.

● In DNF:
■ A∨B
■ ¬A ∧ B
■ (A ∧ C) ∨ (¬B ∧ ¬C)
● Not in DNF:
■ A→B
■ ¬(A ∨ C)
■ A ∧ (B ∨ ¬C)
Conjunctive normal form
● The sentence is in CNF if it is a conjunction of
disjunctions of literals. A literal is an atomic
statement or a negated atomic statement.

● In DNF:
■ A∧B
■ ¬A ∨ B
■ (A ∨ C) ∧ (¬B ∨ ¬C)
● Not in DNF:
■ A→B
■ ¬(A ∧ C)
■ A ∨ (B ∧ ¬C)
 Formal proofs

Find the rules at the end of your

book, under “Summary of Rules”.
Formal proofs

Eliminate the premises:

● Get S(b) from S(a) and b=a. Warning: the symmetry
of equality is not implied, you need to prove it.
● Get B from A → B and A ∨ B.
Formal proofs

Introduce the conclusion:

● Get A ∨ B from A.
● Get P → (Q → P) from nothing.
● Get (P ↔Q) ↔((P → Q) ∧ (Q → P)) from nothing.
Formal proofs

Negation Introduction: assume the opposite and prove

you're wrong.
● Get ¬(a=b) from S(a) and ¬S(b).
● Get ¬(P ∧ ¬P) from nothing.
● Get ¬A from A → ⊥.
Formal proofs

Contradiction elimination: when false is true,

everything is true.
● Get B from ¬A ∨ B and A.
● Get ¬(a=a) from P ∧ ¬P.
● Get B from A → ⊥ and A ∨ B.
Formal proofs

Negation elimination: when all else fails.

● Get ¬A ∨ B from A → B.
● Get P ∨ ¬P from nothing.
● Get P from ¬P → ¬(a=a).
Set theory

● a ∈ A - a is an element of set A
● A ⊆ B - A is a subset of or equal to B
● A ⊂ B - A is a subset of B, but A ≠ B
● A ⋃ B - union of A and B, contains all the elements
that are in either A or B
● A ⋂ B - intersection of A and B, contains all the
elements that are both in A and B
● A \ B - set difference of A and B, contains all the
elements that are in A but not in B
Set theory

A = {1, 2, 3}
B = {1, {1}, {1, 2}, 3}

1∈B A∈B
{1} ∈ A A⊆B
{1} ∈ A ⋂ B ∅∈A\A
{1} ⊆ A ∅⊆A
{1} ⊆ B \ A 2∈A⋂B
A⋂B⊆A⋃B ∅ ∈ {∅} ⋃ A