LOGIC: STATEMENTS,

NEGATIONS,
QUANTIFIERS, TRUTH
TABLES STATEMENT
A statement is a declarative sentence having
truth value.
 EXAMPLES:
1. Today is Thursday.
2. Today I have math class.
3. 1 + 1 = 2
4. 3 < 1
5. Today I have math class and today is
Saturday.
6. 1 + 1 = 2 or 3 < 1
For each of the sentences listed above you should be able to determine its
truth value (that is, you should be able to decide whether the statement is
TRUE or FALSE). Questions and commands are not statements.
SYMBOLS FOR STATEMENTS
It is conventional to use lower case letters
such as p, q, r, s to represent logic statements.
Referring to the statements listed above
let p: Today is Saturday.
q: Today I have math class.
r: 1 + 1 = 2
s: 3 < 1
 QUANTIFIED STATEMENTS
The words "all" "some" and "none" are
examples of quantifiers. A statement
containing one or more of these words is a
quantified statement. Note: the word "some"
means "at least one."
According to your everyday experience, decide
whether each statement is true or false:
1. All dogs are poodles.
2. Some books have hard covers.
3. No U.S. presidents were residents of
Georgia.
4. Some cats are mammals.
5. Some cats aren't mammals.
 NEGATIONS
If p is a statement, the negation of p is another statement that
is exactly the opposite of p. The negation of a statement p is
denoted ~p ("not p").
A statement p and its negation ~p will always have opposite
truth values; it is impossible to conceive of a situation in
which a statement and its negation will have the same truth
value.
 Let p be the statement "Today is
Thursday ." Then ~p is the statement
"Today is not Thursday ."
On any given day, if p is true then ~p
will be false; if p is false, then ~p will
be true.
 NEGATIONS OF QUANTIFIED
STATEMENTS
Fact: "None" is the opposite of "at least one."
For example: The negation of "Some dogs are
poodles" is "No dogs are poodles."
Notice that "Some dogs are poodles" is a
statement that is true according to our everyday
experience, and "No dogs are poodles" is a
statement that is false according to our everyday
experience.
 "All goats are mammals" is "Some goats
aren't mammals."
Notice that "All goats are mammals" is a statement that
is true according to our everyday experience, while
"Some goats aren't mammals" is a statement that is
false according to our everyday experience.
In fact, it is logically impossible to imagine a situation in
which those two statements have the same truth value.
In general, the negation of "All A are B" is "Some A
aren't B."
 LOGICAL CONNECTIVES
The words "and" "or" "but" "if...then" are
examples of logical connectives.
They are words that can be used to connect
two or more simple statements to form a
more complicated compound statement.

"I am taking a math class but I'm not a math

major."
 EQUIVALENT STATEMENTS
Any two statements p and q are logically equivalent if
they have exactly the same meaning.
This means that p and q will always have the same truth
value, in any conceivable situation. If p and q are
equivalent statements, then it is logically impossible to
imagine a situation in which the two statements would
have differing truth values.
Examples: "Today I have math class and today is
Thursday " is equivalent to "Today is Thursday and
today I have math class.
 THE CONJUNCTION
If p, q are statements, their conjunction is
the statement "p and q."
It is denoted: p ∧ q
For example, let p be the statement "I have a
dime" and let q be the statement "I have a
nickel.”
Then p ∧ q is the statement "I have a dime
and I have a nickel."
In general, in order for any statement of the
form “p ∧ q” to be true, both p and q must
be true.
 THE DISJUNCTION
If p, q are statements, their disjunction
is the statement "p or q."
It is denoted: p ∨ q.
 For example, let p be the statement "Today is
Tuesday" and let q be the statement "1 + 1 = 2."
In that case, p ∨ q is the statement "Today is
Tuesday or 1 + 1 = 2."

In general, in order for a statement of the form p

∨ q to be true, at least one of its two parts must
be true. The only time a disjunction is false is
when both parts (both “components”) are false.
 TRUTH TABLES
A truth table is a device that allows us to analyze
and compare compound logic statements.

Consider the symbolic statement p ∨ ~q.

Whether this statement is true or false depends
upon whether its variable parts are true or false,
as well as on the behavior of the “or” connective
and the “negation” operator.
 A truth table for this statement will
take into account every possible
combination of the variables being
true or false, and show the truth
value of the compound statement in
each case.
 As an introduction, we will make
truth tables for these two statements

1. p ∧ q

2. p ∨ q
Note that in this truth table there
is only one row in which the
statement p ∧ q is true. This the
row where p is true and q is true.
This conforms to our earlier
observation that the only
situation in which is conjunction
is true is the case in which both
of its component statements are
true.
Note that in this truth table there
is only one row in which the
statement p ∨ q false. This is
the row where p is false and q is
false. This conforms to our
earlier observation that the only
situation in which is disjunction
is false is the case in which both
of its component statements are
false.
 THE BASIC RULES FOR
CONSTRUCTING A TRUTH TABLE
FOR A COMPOUND STATEMENT
1. The number of rows in the truth table
depends upon the number of basic variables
in the compound statement. To determine the
number of rows required, count the number
of basic variables in the statement, but don't
re-count multiple occurrences of a variable.
 1 variable---2 rows
2 variables--4 rows
3 variables--8 rows
4 variables--16 rows
and so forth.
2. The number of columns in a truth table depends upon
the number of logical connectives in the statement. The
following guidelines are usually reliable.
A. There will be one column for each basic variable;
B. To determine the number of other columns, count
the number of logical connectives in the statement; do
re-count multiple occurrences of the same connective.
The “~” symbol counts as a logical connective. In
addition to the columns for each basic variable, there
will usually be one column for each occurrence of a
logical connective.
3. The beginning columns are filled in so as
to take into account every possible
combination of the basic variables being
true or false. Each row represents one of
the possible combinations.
4. In order to fill in any other column in the
truth table, you must refer to a previous
column or columns.
 1. p∨~q
Step 1: Determine the number of rows
required. Since the statement contains
two basic variables, the truth table will
require four rows.
 Step 2: Determine the number of columns
required. There will be one column for each
basic variable, and one column for each
occurrence of a logical connective in the
statement p∨~q. This means that we will
have a total of four columns.
 Step 3: Begin filling in the
columns. The first two columns
represent the basic variables p,
q. We label them accordingly,
and fill them in in such a way
that each row takes into
account a different
combination of truth values for
these basic variables. The
configuration shown below is
standard.
 STEP 4: Label the remaining columns, bearing in
mind which simpler components are required in
order to construct the statement p∨~q. In order to
construct the statement p∨~q, we need a column
for p and a column for ~q. The truth table already
has a column for p and a column for q, so we now
label the next column ~q. We fill in this column by
referring to the values in the column for q; every
entry in the column ~q will be the opposite of the
corresponding entry in the column for q:
 Now that we have a column for p as well
as a column for ~q, we can combine
them to construct a column for p∨~q . We
fill in this column by referring to the
columns for p and for ~q, and bearing in
mind the behavior of the "or" connective:
p∨~q will be TRUE in any row where the
column for p is true, or the column for ~q
is true, or both; p∨~q will be FALSE only
in a row where the p and ~q are both
false.
 This complete truth table
shows the behavior of the
statement in every conceivable
situation. As we will see later, it
can be used to compare the
statement p∨~q with other
compound statements, and to
identify other, different-looking
statements that are equivalent
to p∨~q.
USING TRUTH TABLES TO TEST
FOR LOGICAL EQUIVALENCY
To determine if two statements are
equivalent, make a truth table having a
column for each statement. If the
columns are identical, then the
statements are equivalent.
 TAUTOLOGIES
A tautology is a statement that cannot
possibly be false, due to its logical structure
(its syntax).
The statement q∨~ (~p∧q) is an example of a
tautology.
 DeMORGAN'S LAWS
~(p∧q) ≡~p∨~q
THE NEGATION OF A CONJUNCTION The
negation of "p and q" is "not p or not q."
~(p∨q) ≡~p∧~q
THE NEGATION OF A DISJUNCTION The
negation of "p or q" is "not p and not q."
EXAMPLE
1. I want a car and a motorcycle.
2. My cat stays outside or it makes a
mess.
3. I've fallen and I can't get up.
4. You study or you don't get a good
grade.
SUMMARY