Lesson 4: The Language of Logic

This lesson introduces the basic concepts of elementary logic to

determine the truth or falsity of statements.

Logic

What is logic?

Logic is the study of correct thinking and reasoning. It uses principles aand
methods to distinguish valid arguments from those that are not. It is the foundation for
expressing logical methods used to prove theorems, design computer software, and to solve
mathematical problems.
Logic is a tool for working with complicated statements. It illustrates the importance
of precision and conciseness. It allows us to determine the validity of an argument in and
out of mathematics. For lawyers, they use logic to communicate more effectively, construct
arguments, analyze legal contracts, and make decisions.
In logic, assertions are made by combining words and symbols in the form of
sentences. Such assertions are called statements or propositions, which are declarative
sentences that are either true or false – but not both.
A statement or proposition may be denoted by a variable like P, Q, R,…
Examples:
P: University of Northern Philippines is in Vigan City.
Q: Light is faster than sound.
R: 1 + 3 = 4.
S: 7 is an even number.

Simple and compound statement

A simple statement is a statement that conveys a single idea. A compound statement is
a statement that conveys two or more ideas. It is formed by connecting simple statements
with words and phrases such as and, or, if…then, if and only if, etc.

Examples:
1. 20 is divisible by 4.
2. Taylor Swift is a singer and Stephen Curry is a basketball player.
3. If a polygon has three sides, then it is a triangle.
4. Mark goes to gym or stays at home every Friday.

Statement 1 is a simple statement while statements 2, 3, and 4 are examples of

compound statements.
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Logical Logical Connectives

Connecting simple statements with words and phrases such as and, or, if…then,
and if and only if createds a compound statement. For instance, “My mother attends a
meeting or buys in a grocery store”. The word or is a connective for the two simple
statements.
Logical connective is a word or symbol that joins two sentences to produce a new one.
George Boole uses symbols such as p, q, r, and s to represent simple statements and the
symbols ˄, ˅, ⁓, →, ↔ to represent connectives.

Logical Connectives and Symbols

Type
Statements Connective Symbolic Form
of Statement
not p not ⁓p negation
p and q and p˄q conjunction
p or q or p˅q disjunction
If p, then q If…then p→q implication/conditional
p if and only if q if and only if p↔q biconditional

Example1:
Let p: I review my lessons.
q: I play video games.
r: I go to the beach.
s: I get a reward.
The following are compound statements formed by using logical connectives. Write
the following statements:
a. q ˄ p
b. q ˅ r
c. ⁓ r
d. p → s
e. s ↔ p

Solutions:
a. I play video games and review my lessons.
b. I play video games or go to the beach.
c. I do not go to the beach.
d. If I review my lessons, then I get a reward.
e. I get a reward if and only if I review my lessons.

Example 2. Indicate the simple statements by p and q and express the compound statement
in symbolic form of the following compound statements.
a. John can program in C++ and he can program in Java.
b. If x is an even number then it is a multiple of 2.
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Solution:
a. p: John can program in C++.
q: John can program in Java.
p ˄q
b. p: x is an even number.
q: x is a multiple of 2.
p→s

Exercise:
In every item, indicate what statements p, q, or r might stand for and then express
the item using the correct symbol (⋀, ⋁, → , ↔ , ¬).
1. r
2. 2 and -3 are rational zeroes of .
3. y x
4. If x = y, then y = x.
5. Triangle ABC is a right triangle if and only if c2 = a2 + b2.

The Truth Table

The truth values of a compound statement are respectively determined by the truth
values of the original statements and the connectives used to form them. The decision of
accepting or rejecting a statement depends on the truith values of a proposition. An
acceptable statement is given a truth value “true” and unacceptable statement is given a
truth value “false”.

a. Negation.
If a proposition p is true, then the proposition ⁓ p is false. However, if p is false, then
⁓ p is true.
For example:
Let p: “I study at University of Northern Philippines.” be a true statement. Then, ⁓ p
is stated as “ I do not study at the University of Northern Philippines.” or “It is false that I
study at the University of Northern Philippines.” Which is a negation of the original
proposition p.

b. Conjunction
The conjunction of two statements p and q denoted by p ⋀ q is defined by the
following truth table.
p q p⋀q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F F

The only condition for p ⋀ q to be a true statement is when both p and q are true.
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c. Disjunction
The disjunction of two statements p and q denoted by p q is defined by the
following truth table.

p q p⋁q
T T T
T F T
F T T
F F F

This means that the disjunction of two statements is true if and only if at keast one of
the statements is true.

d. Implication or Conditional
In a conditional statement, the truth of p implies the truth of q. If p is true, then q
must be true. The only way that this can fail (or be false) is when p is true while q is false.
The truth table of p → q is given in the following table.

p q p →q
T T T
T F F
F T T
F F T

e. Biconditional
The biconditional statement p ↔ , is defined by the following truth table.
p q p ↔
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F T

Summary of truth values of compound statements using logical connectives

p q p⋀q p⋁q p →q p ↔
T T T T T T
T F F T F F
F T F T T F
F F F F T T

Example 1. Given the truth values of the propositions A, B, C, and D. If A is true, B is false,
C is true, and D is false, give the truth value of the following:
a. [(⁓A ⋀ B) → C ] ⋁ D
b. [ (A → B) → ⁓ C] ↔ [⁓ B → ⁓ ( C ⋀ D)]
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Solutions:
We simply substitute the truth value of each proposition, i.e.
a. [(⁓T ⋀ F) → T ] ⋁ F
[(F ⋀ F) → T ] ⋁ F
(F → T) ⋁ F
T ⋁F
T

b. [ (A → B) → ⁓ C] ↔ [⁓ B → ⁓ ( C ⋀ D)]
[ (T → F) → ⁓ T] ↔ [⁓ F → ⁓ ( T ⋀ F)]
(F → F) ↔ (T → ⁓ F)
T ↔ (T → T)
T ↔T
T

Example 2. Construct a truth table for

a. [⁓ p → ( p ⋀ q)]
b. [ (p ↔ q) ⋁ (p → r)] → ⁓ (q ⋀ r)
Solution:
a. [⁓ p → ( p ⋀ q)]
Since it involves 2 propositions, there are 4 combinations.
p q ⁓p p⋀q [⁓ p → ( p ⋀ q)]
T T F T T
T F F F T
F T T F F
F F T F F

b. [(p ↔ q) ⋁ (p → r)] → ⁓ (q ⋀ r)
Since it involves 3 propositions, there are 8 combinations.

p q r (p↔q) (p→r) (p ↔ q)⋁(p→r) (q⋀r) ⁓(q⋀r) [(p↔q)⋁(p→r)]→⁓(q⋀r)

T T T T T T T F F
T T F T F T F T T
T F T F T T F T T
T F F F F F F T T
F T T F T T T F F
F T F F T T F T T
F F T T T T F T T
F F F T T T F T T
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Exercise:
A. Give the truth value if A is false, B is true, C is false and D is true.
a. [(C → B) → ⁓ C] ↔ [B → (C ⋀ A)]
b. [(D ⋀ B) ⋁ (A ⋀ C)] ⋀ B
c. [(A ⋁ B) → C] → [ B → (A ⋁ B)]
B. Construct the truth table for the following:
a. [(p ⋁ q) → r] ⋀ [ (r ⋀ p) → r]
b. (r ⋀ p) ↔ [(p ⋁ q) → ⁓ p] ⋀ (p ⋁ q)

References:

Alejan, R. O. et al. (2018). Mathematics in the Modern World. Mutya Publishing House, Inc.
Malabon City.

Aufmann,R.,et al. (2016). Mathematical Excursion 4th Edition. Cengage Learning, USA.

Nocon, R. C. & Nocon, E. G. (2016). Essential Mathematics for the Modern World. First
Edition. C & E Publishing, Inc. Quezon City.

Ymas, S. E. Jr. et al. (2006). Discrete Mathematics.Revised Edition. Ymas Publishing

House.

Zorilla, R. S. & Partible, F. G. (2018). Mathematics in the Modern World. Mutya

Publishing House, Inc. Malabon City.