Chapter 2

Mathematical Language and Symbol

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the chapter, the students shall be able to:

1. differentiate expressions from sentences
2. translate verbal phrases into symbols and vice- versa
3. perform operations on mathematical expressions correctly
4. explain mathematical statements using logic and truth tables

2.1 Characteristics of Mathematical Language

Language is a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or
convention symbol. In our country, Filipino is the language used by everyone to understand
each other. Every region has its own dialect that is different from others. Language is
important to understand the expressed ideas and to communicate ideas to others.

People sometimes have trouble understanding mathematical ideas: not necessarily

because the ideas are difficult, but because they are being presented in a foreign language
- the language of mathematics. The language of mathematics makes it easy to express the
kinds of thoughts that mathematicians like to express. Mathematics language are precise
and are able to make very fine distinction. It is also concise and are able to say things briefly
and powerful to be able to express complex thoughts with relative ease. Mathematics, like
any other language, has its own vocabulary (words) and rules for combining words into
complete thoughts (sentences).

Comparison between the English Language and Mathematical Language

English Mathematics
English alphabet and English alphabet, numerals, Greek letters,
Symbols
punctuation grouping symbols, special symbols
Name Noun Expression
Complete thought Sentence Sentence
Action Verbs Operations and other actions
What’s in a sentence Verbs Equality, inequality, membership of a set
Attribute of a sentence Fact or fiction True or false

2.2 Expressions vs. Sentences

The noun of mathematics is used to name mathematical objects of interest. On the

other hand, sentences state a complete mathematical thought. A mathematical sentence is
the analogue of an English sentence; it is a correct arrangement of mathematical symbols
that states a complete thought.

Mathematical sentences have verbs. In mathematical sentence “3 + 4 = 7”, the verb

is ‘=‘. A sentence can be (always) true, (always) false, or sometimes true/sometimes false.

2 is an expression
1+1=3 is a sentence (False)

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Vocabulary and Grammatical Rules in Mathematics

Symbols on Sets and Logic Examples Meaning

∪ - Union A∪B Union of set A and set B
∩ - Intersection A∩B Intersection of set A and B
∈ - Element of a∈b a is an element of X
⊆ - Subset A⊆B A is a subset of B
⊂ - Proper subset A⊂B A is proper subset of B
∨ - or (disjunction) A∨B A or B
∧ - and (conjunction) A∧B A and B
, – - not (negation) B, – B Not B
→ - implies that (if…then) A→B If A then B
 - if and only if AB A if and only if B
 - therefore A Therefore, A
∀ - for all/for every ∀x For all x
 - there exists x There exists x
 or : - such that x  x = 2n x such that x is even
 - equivalent 4  1 (mod 3) 4 is equivalent to 1 modulo 3
∎, QED - end of proof

Basic Operations and Operations

Example
Symbol Meaning
Symbols Words
+ addition 4+2 Four plus two
– subtraction 5–6 Five minus six
x multiplication 7x8 seven times eight
 division 15  3 fifteen divided by three
○ composition of function (f ○ g)(x) the composition of the functions f and g
= equal 4+3=7 Four plus three is equal to seven.
≠ not equal 5≠1 Five is not equal to one.
<, >, ≤, ≥ inequalities 5>4 Five is greater than four.

Mathematical expression is the name given or mathematical object of interest, which

may be a quantity, number and combinations of these using operations. The following are
examples of mathematical phrases and their equivalent expressions.

Mathematical Phrase Mathematical Expression

Six times the sum of x and 4 6 (x + 4)
The difference of 6 and k divided by 12 (6 – k)/12
7 added to the product of 11 and m 11m + 7
The product of 11 and x 11x

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 The following are mathematical expressions and their equivalent mathematical
phrases:

Mathematical Expression Mathematical Phrase

a+b • The sum of a and b
• a added by b
• b added to a
y–x • y minus x
• y less x
• y subtracted by x
• x less than y
• x subtracted from y
x(y – z) • The product of x and the difference of y and z
• x multiplied by the difference
xy – z • The difference of the product of x and y, and z
(x + y)(x – y) • The product of the sum and the difference of x and y
5𝑥 − 3 • The ratio of the difference of five times x and 3, and the
sum of the square root of x and 4
√𝑥 + 4
• The difference of five times x and 3 divided by the sum
of the square root of x and 4

2.3 Conventions in the Mathematical Language

The use of language in mathematics differs from the language of ordinary speech in
three important ways.

• It is non-temporal – there is no past, present, or future in mathematics. This

presents difficulties in forming examples of, say, logical principles using ordinary
subjects
• Mathematical language is devoid of emotional content, although mathematicians
tend to enliven their speech with phrases.
• Mathematic language is precise. Ordinary speech is full of ambiguous,
innuendoes, hidden agendas, and unspoken cultural assumptions.

Examples of types of expressions in mathematics (or what commonly refers to as

mathematical objects) are numbers, sets, functions, ordered pairs, ordered triple, ordered n-
tuple, matrices, vectors, and groups.

2.4 Four Basic Concepts: Sets, Functions, Relations, Binary Operations

Sets
The use of the word set as a formal mathematics term was introduced in 1879 by
George Cantor (1845-1918). It is a well-defined collection of distinct objects. Like other field
of mathematics, sets also use symbols or notations to represent a concept. A set is usually
denoted by a capital letter (B), whereas lower-case letter is used to denote elements (a) of
a set.

There are two ways to present set. One way is to list its elements that are separated
by commas, and enclosed in braces {}. This is sometimes called the tabular form of a set.
The second is to state those properties which characterize the elements in the set, which is
properties held by the members of the set but not by nonmembers. This is sometimes called
set-builder form.

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 Equality of two Sets. Two sets are equal, written as 𝐴 = 𝐵, if they both have the same
elements, that is if every element which belongs to A also belongs to B, And vice versa. All
elements under investigation is called universal set (U). A set with no element is called empty
set or null set.

Set A is said to be a subset of B, written as (𝐴 ⊆ 𝐵), if every element of A is also an

element of B or A is contained in B. If A is not a subset of B, then there is at least one element
in A that is not in B, written as 𝐴 ⊈ 𝐵.
Example 1: If let U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}, A = {1, 3, 5}, B = {1, 2, 3, 5, 7}, and C = {1, 2, 3, 4,
5}, D = {1, 3, 5}. Then we can say that 𝐴 ⊆ 𝐵 since elements 1, 3, and 5 is also an elements
of set B. It is also true that 𝐴 ⊆ 𝐶 since elements 1, 3, 5 are also an elements of set C. On
the other hand, 𝐵 ⊈ 𝐶 since 7 is not an element of set C. Also, 𝐴 ⊆ 𝐷 since all the elements
of set A is an element of set B.

Properties of Sets:
1. Every set A is a subset of the universal set U and every null or empty set is a
subset of any set.
2. Every set is a subset of itself.
3. If every element of A belongs to set B, and every element of B belongs to set C,
then clearly every element of A belongs to C.
4. If A is a subset of B and B is a subset of A, then A and B have the same elements
or A is equals to B

A is a proper subset of B (𝐴 ⊂ 𝐵) if all the elements of A belongs to B but 𝐴 ≠ 𝐵. In

example 1 below, 𝐴 ⊂ 𝐵, and 𝐴 ⊂ 𝐶 since elements of set A is not the same as the elements
in set B and C.

Set Operation

The union of two sets A and B (𝐴 ∪ 𝐵) is the set of all elements in A or B, that is, the
combined elements in set A and in set B. In symbol,
𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 = {𝑥: 𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 𝑜𝑟 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵}

The intersection of sets A and B (𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) is the set of all elements that are both in A
and B. It is therefore all the elements that are common to set A and set B. In symbol,
𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = {𝑥: 𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵}

Example 1:

Let U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}, A = {1, 4, 5}, B = {1, 3, 4, 5, 7}, C = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6}

𝐴 ∪ 𝐵 = {1, 3, 4, 5, 7}, 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵 = {1, 4, 5}

𝐴 ∪ 𝐶 = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} 𝐴 ∩ 𝐶 = {4, 5}
𝐵 ∪ 𝐶 = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} = U 𝐵 ∩ 𝐶 = {3, 4, 5}

Two sets are said to be disjoint if they have no elements in common, that is
if A  B = .

The complement of set A, denoted by A’, is the set of all elements in U but
not in A.
A’ = x  x  U, x  A

The difference of A and B, denoted by A – B is the set of all elements in A but

not in B.

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 A – B = x  x  A, x  B

Example 2: Let U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}, A = {1, 4, 5}, B = {1, 2, 3, 5, 7}, and

C = {1, 2, 3, 4, 6}.

Then,
𝐴′ = {2, 3, 6, 7} 𝐵′ = {4, 6} 𝐶 ′ = {5, 7}

Example 3: Determine the difference (A – B), (A – C), (B – C), (B – A),

(C – A), and (C – B).

(𝐴 − 𝐵) = {4} (𝐴 − 𝐶) = {5} (𝐵 − 𝐶) = {5, 7}

(𝐶 − 𝐴) = {2, 3, 6} (𝐶 − 𝐵) = {4, 6} (𝐵 − 𝐴) = {2, 3, 7}

Cardinality of a set. Cardinality of set A refers to the number of distinct elements of

set A. If sets A and B are finite disjoint sets. Then A  B is finite and n(A  B) = n(A) + n(B).
If sets A and B are finite sets

Example 4: Given A = {1, 4, 5}, B = {1, 2, 3, 5, 7} and C = {2, 3, 6, 7}.

Find 𝑛(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵) and 𝑛(𝐴 ∪ 𝐶).

Solution:
Since set A and B have common element which is 1, then the second
equation must be used.

𝑛(𝐴 ∪ 𝐵) = 𝑛{1, 4, 5} + 𝑛{1, 2, 3, 5, 7} − 𝑛{1, 5} = 3 + 5 − 2 = 6

= 𝑛{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7}
𝑛(𝐴 ∪ 𝐶) = 𝑛{1, 4, 5} ∪ 𝑛{2, 3, 6, 7} = 3 + 4 = 7 = 𝑛{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}

If two sets A and B have the same cardinality, they are said to be equivalent. In
symbols A  B.

Relation

A relation is a set of ordered pairs (a, b) of elements where a is designated as the

first element and b as the second element. In contrast with the idea of set (a, b) ≠ (b, a)
unless a = b. Order of elements in a set is irrelevant while it is important in an ordered pair.

Let A and B be two sets. The product set or Cartesian product of A and B, written as
A x B and read as “A cross B” is the set of all ordered pairs (a, b) such that a  A and b  B.

A x B = (a, b)  a  A and b  B

It can be noticed that A x B ≠ B x A.

The product set or Cartesian product of two set A and B are the set of ordered pairs
(a, b) which are any combination for which the first element is from set A and second element
is from set B.

Example 5:
Suppose A = {1, 2, 3} and B = {2, 3}. Then the product set A x B =
{(1, 2), (1, 3), (2, 2), (2, 3), (3, 2), (3, 3)}. On the other hand, B x A = {(2, 1),

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 (2, 2), (2, 3), (3,1), (3, 2), (3, 3)}. We can take note that 𝐴 𝑥 𝐵 ≠ 𝐵 𝑥 𝐴, they
have the same number of ordered pairs but not exactly the same ordered
pairs.

Let A and B be sets. A relation from A to B is a subset of A x B. The domain of the

relation is the set of all first elements of the ordered pairs which is a subset of A, and the
range is the set of all second elements of the ordered pairs which is a subset of B.

Example 6:
For the cross product A x B = {(1, 2), (1, 3), (2, 2), (2, 3), (3, 2), (3, 3)},
let R = {(1, 2), (2, 2), (2, 3), (3, 3)} be a relation. Then the domain of the
relation D = {1, 2, 3} and the range R = {2, 3}.

The inverse of R, denoted by R-1, is the relation from B to A which consists of those
pairs which, when reversed belong to R; that is R-1 = (b, a)  (a, b)  R.

In the inverse f a relation, the domain of the relation becomes the range of the inverse
and the range of the relation become the domain of the inverse.

Example 7:
Suppose that R = {(1, 2), (2, 2), (2, 3), (3, 3)} be a relation. Determine
the inverse of this relation.

Solution. To find the inverse, we just have to interchange the domain and the
range.
𝑅 −1 = {(2, 1), (2, 2), (3, 2), (3, 3)}

Example 8: If A = {1, 3, 5} and B = {2, 4, 6}. If 𝑆 ⊆ 𝐴 𝑥 𝐵, find the domain and range
of the inverse relation of each of S = {(x, y)/y = x + 1}

Functions

A function is a special kind of relation. Every function is a relation, but not every
relation is a function. A function f is a set of ordered pairs (x, y) such that exactly one value
of y corresponds to each value of x. It is a relation in which there are no two ordered pairs
with the same first coordinate.

Example 9:
The relation 𝑆 = {(1, 4), (2, 5), (3, 8)}is a function since to each first
coordinate there corresponds one and only one second coordinate. In
contrast, the relation 𝑆 = {(1, 2), (2, 5), (1, 8)} is not a function since there are
two ordered pairs with the same first coordinate.

When the domain of the function is not specified, it is then understood to be the
largest possible subset of the set of all real numbers or which the rule of correspondence of
the given function is define.

Example 10:
4
Given a function 𝑓 = {(𝑥, 𝑦)| 𝑦 = }, The domain of the function is
𝑥−3
understood to be the set of real numbers except 3, since y will become
undefined for x = 3. That will make the domain of the function 𝐷 = {𝑥 | 𝑥 ≠ 3}.

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 To find the inverse of function, the coordinate of the ordered pairs are
simply interchanged. The domain becomes the range and the range becomes
the domain of the inverse.

Example 11: If 𝑓 = {(𝑥, 𝑦)|𝑦 = 3𝑥 − 4}, find 𝑓 −1 .

Solution: To find the inverse, we have to interchange the variables x and y

and solve the equation in terms of y.
𝑦 = 3𝑥 − 4
𝑥 = 3𝑦 − 4
−3𝑦 = −𝑥 − 4
3𝑦 = 𝑥 + 4
𝑥+4 𝑥 4
𝑦= 𝑜𝑟 +
3 3 3

Binary Operation

A binary operation " ∘ " on a non – empty set of S is a mapping which associates with
each ordered pair (x, y) of elements of S a uniquely defined element 𝑥 ∘ 𝑦 of S: in brief, a
binary operation of a set S is a mapping of S x S into S.

A binary operation satisfies closure property that if x and y is an element of N, then

any operation from x and y such that x + y, x – y, x * y, x / y and other operation, the result
must always be an element of N.

Example 12:
Addition and multiplication are binary operations on the set of
positive integers.

Explanation: The set of positive integers 𝑍 + = {1, 2, 3, 4, … }. With operation

addition, any element from the set added to another element from the
set the result will always be an element of the set.

Example 13:
Division is not a binary operation on the set of natural numbers and
integers.

Explanation: The set natural numbers are N = {1, 2, 3, 4, …}, if we are going
divide a number from the set by its factor then the result is within the
set of N. For example, 9/3 = 3, 8/2 = 4, 12/3 = 4 and other. However,
if we are going to divide an element of N by a number that is not its
factor, then the result will be value that is not an element of N. For
example, 9 divided by 4 is equal to 9/4 which is not an element of N.

Example 14:
The operation a – b = b is a binary operation on any set of numbers.

Explanation: The operation stated above involves only two elements a and
b, the result of the operation shows that for any value for variables a
and b, the result is always b which is an element of the set. Suppose
we have set of integer Z = {…-3, -2, -1,, 0, 1, 2, 3, …}, 5 – 7 = 7, 9
– 10 = 10, 18 – 5 = 5.

Example 15:

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 The operation + is a binary operation on the set S = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}
under modulo 6.

Explanation: Under modulo 6, the result for the operation is the remainder or
residue after it was divided by 6. It is a binary operation under addition
since the remainder will never be equal or greater than 6. With that
operation, 5 + 5 = 4 which is an element of S, 5 + 4 = 3 also an
element of S, 2 + 5 = 1, another element of S. *Note: 5 + 5 = 10, if it
will be divided by 6, the result is 1 remainder 4. 5 + 4 = 9 dividing it
by 6 it will be 1 remainder 3.

Commutative Binary Operation

A binary operation on a set s is called commutative whenever x + y = y + x for all x

and y element of S.

Example 16:
Addition and multiplication are both commutative binary operations
on the set of positive integers (𝑍 + ).

Explanation: Positive integers (𝑍 + ) is a binary operation for both

multiplication and addition since we add or multiply two positive
number the result is always a positive number. It is also commutative
since changing the order of the number will not change the sum or
the product, that is 3 + 4 = 4 + 3 = 7 and 5 * 7 = 7 * 5 = 35.

Example 17:
The operation + and x are both commutative binary operation on the
set of S = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5} modulo 6.

Explanation: It has been already explained that set S = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

module is a binary operation under addition and multiplication. It also
commutative since 3 + 4 = 4 + 3 = 1 and also 5 * 4 = 4 * 5 = 2.

2.5 Principles of Logic

2.5.1 Connectives, Logic Statements, and Quantifiers

A logical connective is the mathematical equivalent of a conjunction. It is a word or

symbol that joins two sentences to produce a new one. Connectives such as “and” (∧), “or”
(∨) and “implies” (⇒) are used in formal or abstract mathematical discourse.
Connective “and” is a sentence lining meaning which can be written by the symbol
(∧). If P and Q are statements, the P ∧ Q is the statement that is true if and only if P and Q
is true.

The symbol for connective “or” is (∨). The statement P ∨ Q is true if and only if P is
true or Q is true. The connective includes the case when they are both true, it is the so-called
inclusive version of the word.

The third important connective is “implies”, which is usually written " ⇒ " . The
statement P ⇒ Q means Q is consequence of P, and is sometimes read as “if P then Q”. The
statement P ⇒ Q is considered to be true under all circumstances except it is not true if P is
true and Q is false.

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Definition. A statement, or proposition, is a declarative sentence that is either true or false,
but not both true and false. The designation T (true) or F (false), one and only one
of which is assignable to any given statement, is called the truth value of that
statement.

Example 1. The following are statements.

a) The moon is made of green cheese.
b) (𝑒 𝜋 )2 = 𝑒 2𝜋 .
c) 6 is a prime number.
d) September 3, 2015 falls on a Thursday.
e) The millionth digit in the decimal expansion of √2 is 6.

Statements (a) and (c) are clearly false (i.e., have truth value F, whereas (b) is true.
The truth values of statements (d) and (e) are not so evident, but are determinable; item (d),
for instance, is true. In connection with (e), it is important to understand that we need not to
know specifically whether or not a statement is true in order to label it a statement.

Example 2. The following are not statements.

a) Is (𝑒 𝜋 )2 equal to 𝑒 2𝜋 ?
b) If only every day could be like this one!
c) Every goople is an aardling.
d) 2 + 3𝑖 is less than 5 + 3𝑖.
e) 𝑥 > 5.

Items (a) and (b) fail to be statements, because they are interrogative and
exclamatory sentences, respectively, rather than declarative. Item (c) fails, since some of
its words are not really words, but rather, nonsense collections of letters. Item (d) fails for
same reason as (c), but in more subtle and purely mathematical way. Item (e) is an important
example. It is not a statement, but rather, it is an open sentence or predicate. It is neither
true nor false since it contains a variable, essentially an “empty place” in the sentence.

Compound Statements and Logical Connectives

All the statements in Example 1 were simple statements not composed in any way of
other statements. The propositional calculus is about compound statements consisting of
two or more component statements, joined by one or more logical connectives.

In algebra we use variables x, y, z, etc., to represent numbers, and use operations

such as “plus” and “times” that allow us to combine numbers to get new number. In the
propositional calculus we use letters in lower case, such as p, q, and r to represent
statements, and we have connectives represented by symbols such as , , and →, by which
we can combine statements to get a new statement.

Thus, if p and q are statements, then p  q and q → p, for instance, will also be
statements, compound statements in fact. It is important to realize that the truth value of a
compound statement will depend on the truth values of its component statements only (in a
manner prescribed by the connective involved) and not on the compound statements
themselves. Thus to know whether a statement of the form p  q is true, we need only to
know the truth values of p and q, and not p and q. Clearly then the connectives are crucial.

We deal with the five most common logical connectives, “and”, “or”, “if… then”, and
“if and only if”. We define each connective by specifying when a compound statement
involving it is true. We begin with negation, conjunction, and disjunction.

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Quantifiers

Using symbols , , , → and , we can deconstruct many English sentences into a

symbolic form. This symbolic form can help us understand the logical structure of sentences
and how different sentences may actually have the same meaning (as in logical
equivalence). But these symbols alone are not powerful enough to capture the full meaning
of every statement. To help overcome this defect, we introduce two new symbols that
correspond to common mathematical phrases.

The  and  Quantifiers

The symbol “” stands for the phrase “For all” or “For every.” The symbol “”
stands for the phrase “There exists a” or “There is a.” Thus the statement

For every 𝑛 ∈ 𝑍, 2𝑛 is even,

can be expressed in either of the ff. ways:

∀𝑛 ∈ 𝑍, 2𝑛 is even,

∀𝑛 ∈ 𝑍, E(2𝑛).

Likewise, a statement such as

There exists a subset X of N for which |𝑋| = 5.

can be translated as

∃𝑋, (𝑋𝑁)  (|𝑋| = 5) or ∃𝑋𝑁), |𝑋| = 5 or ∃𝑋 ∈ P(𝑁), |𝑋| = 5.

The symbol  and  are called quantifiers because they refer in some sense to the quantity
(i.e., all some) of the variables that follow them. Symbol  is called the universal quantifier
and  is called the existential quantifier. Statements which contain them are called
quantified statements. A statement beginning with  is called a universally quantified
statement, and one beginning with  is called an existentially quantified statement.

Example 3. The following English statements are paired with their translations into
symbolic form.

a) Every integer that is not odd is even.

∀𝑛 ∈ 𝑍,  (𝑛 is odd) → (𝑛 is even), or ∀𝑛 ∈ 𝑍,  O(𝑛) → 𝐸(𝑛).

b) There is an integer that is not even.

𝑛 ∈ 𝑍,  𝐸(𝑛).

c) For every real number 𝑥, there is a real number 𝑦 for which 𝑦 3 = 𝑥.

∀𝑥 ∈ 𝑅, ∃𝑦 ∈ 𝑅, 𝑦 3 = 𝑥.

d) Given any two rational numbers 𝑎 and 𝑏, it follows that 𝑎𝑏 is rational.

∀𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ 𝑄, 𝑎𝑏 ∈ 𝑄.

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2.5.2 Truth Values of Quantified Statements

Given a set S (such as, but not limited to, N, Z, Q, etc.), a quantified statement of form ∀𝑥 ∈
𝑆, 𝑃(𝑥) is understood to be true if 𝑃(𝑥) is true for every 𝑥 ∈ 𝑆. If there is at least one 𝑥 ∈ 𝑆
for which 𝑃(𝑥) is false, then ∀𝑥 ∈ 𝑆, 𝑃(𝑥) is a false statement. Similarly, ∃𝑥 ∈ 𝑆, 𝑃(𝑥) is true
provided that 𝑃(𝑥) is true provided that 𝑃(𝑥) is true for at least one element 𝑥 ∈ 𝑆; otherwise
it is false.

Example 4. The following false statements are paired with their translations.

a) Every integer is even.

∀𝑛 ∈ 𝑍, 𝐸(𝑛).

b) There is an integer n for which 𝑛2 = 2.

∃𝑛  Z, 𝑛2 = 2.

c) For every real number x, there is a real number y for which 𝑦 2 = 𝑥.

∀𝑥 ∈ 𝑅, ∃𝑦 ∈ 𝑅, 𝑦 2 = 𝑥.

d) Given any two rational numbers 𝑎 and 𝑏, it follows that √𝑎𝑏 is rational.
∀𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ 𝑄, √𝑎𝑏 ∈ 𝑄.

Example 5. When a statement contains two quantifiers you must be very alert to their
order, for reversing the order can change the meaning. Consider the following
statement from the previous example.

∀𝑥 ∈ 𝑅, ∃𝑦 ∈ 𝑅, 𝑦 3 = 𝑥.
3
This statement is true, for no matter what number 𝑥 is there exists a number 𝑦 = √𝑥
for which 𝑦 3 = 𝑥. Now reverse the order of the quantifiers tog et the new statement

∃𝑦 ∈ 𝑅, ∀𝑥 ∈ 𝑅, 𝑦 3 = 𝑥.

This new statement says that there exists a particular number y with the property that
𝑦 3 = 𝑥 for every real number x. Since no number y can have this property, the statement is
false. The two statements above have entirely different meanings.

Quantified statements are often misused in casual conversation. Maybe you’ve

heard someone say “All students do not pay full tuition.” when they mean “Not all students
pay full tuition.” While the mistake is perhaps marginally forgivable in casual conversation,
it must never be made in a mathematical context. Do not say “All integers are not even.”
Because that means there are no even integers. Instead, say “Not all integers are even.”

2.5.3 Negation, Conjunction, and Disjunction

Definition. Given statements p and q, we define three statements formed from p and q
a) The negation (or denial) of p, denoted p and read “not p,” is true precisely when
p is false.
b) The conjunction of p and q, denoted 𝑝 Ù 𝑞 and read “p and q,” is true precisely
when p and q are both true.
c) The disjunction (or alternation) of p and q, denoted 𝑝 Ú 𝑞 and read “p or q,” is
true when one or the other or both of the statements p and q is (or are) true.

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 If p represents the statement “5 is a prime number” (true) and q the statement “5 times
9 equals 46” (false), then the statement  p (5 is not a prime number) is false, the statement
q (5 times 9 does not equal 46) is true, and p  q is false (since q is false), but p  q is true
(since p is true).

Everyday usage of or is “one or the other, but not both” (exclusive alternation). The
alternation we’ve defined, often called the mathematical or, is inclusive, corresponding to
“and/or” in English. The most convenient device for illustrating the truth values of a
compound statement form under the various possible truth conditions is the truth table. We
construct truth tables for the three previously defined connectives in Figure 1.

P q pq p q pq
T T T T T T
p p T F F T F T
T F F T F F T T
F T F F F F F F
(a) (b) (c)
Figure 1. Truth tables for negation, conjunction, and disjunction.

Example 5. Determine under what truth conditions the statement form for the compound
statement “Either the integer 57 is not prime and 24 = 16 or the integer 57 is prime and
2
(6) = 22 ” is true. Is the statement itself true or false?
3

Solution. Let p represent the statement “The integer 57 is prime,” so that “the integer 57 is
2
not prime” corresponds to  p. Let q symbolize “24 = 16” and let r denote “ (6) = 22 .” The
3
main connective in the given compound statement is “either … or.” The two statements
joined by this disjunction are themselves compound, each involving the connective “and.”
Specifically, the latter two statements, in symbols, have the form ~𝑝  𝑞 and 𝑝  𝑟. To signify
that  is the main connective, we use parenthesis around the expressions ~𝑝  𝑞 and 𝑝  𝑞,
arriving finally at (~𝑝  𝑞)  (𝑝  𝑟) as the symbolic form.

We must next construct a truth table for this statement form. The first three columns
should be headed by p, q, and r, whereas the last column (farthest to the right) has at its
head the statement form (~𝑝  𝑞)  (𝑝  𝑟) itself. Intermediate columns need to be provided
for any compound statement forms that occur as components of the final statement form, in
this case ~𝑝, ~𝑝  𝑞 , and 𝑝  𝑟 . The number of rows is the number of possible truth
combinations of the component statement forms p, q, and r. Our truth table should have
eight rows, based on the number of column headings we’ve noted, it requires seven columns,
as shown in Figure 2.

p q r p pq pr ( p  q)  (p  r)
T T T F F T T
T F T F F T T
F T T T T F T
F F T T F F F
T T F F F F F
T F F F F F F
F T F T T F T
F F F T F F F
Figure 2. The statement form ( p  q)  (p  r) is true in some
cases, false in others.

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2.5.4 Tautologies, Equivalence, Conditional and Biconditional

The compound statement form ( p  q)  (p  r) of Example 3, turned out to be true

under some truth conditions and false under others. We occasionally refer to such a
statement form as a contingency. Statement forms that are always true or always false are
of particular importance.

Definition. A statement form that is true under all possible truth conditions for its
components is called a tautology. A statement form that is false under all possible
truth conditions for its components is called a contradiction.

Example 6. Show that the statement forms 𝑝   𝑝 and 𝑝   𝑝 are,

respectively, a tautology and a contradiction.

Solution. We demonstrate this by means of truth tables. Since only one

unknown is involved in each statement form, our table will require only two
rows. For the sake of compactness, we use a single table for both statement
forms. Column 3 of the table in Figure 3 consists entirely of F’s and column
4 solely of T’s, as claimed.

p p pp pp
T F F T
F T F T
Figure 3. The statement form p   p is always false,
whereas p   p is always true.

Definition. Two compound statement forms that have the same truth values as each other
under all possible truth conditions for their components are said to be logically equivalent.

Example 7. Show that the statement forms ~(𝑝  𝑞) and ~ 𝑝  ~𝑞 are

logically equivalent.

Solution. We do this by constructing a truth table of four rows and seven

columns, as shown in Figure 4, noting that the entries in the columns headed
by ~ 𝑝  ~𝑞 and ~(𝑝  𝑞) are identical.

p q pq p q pq  (p  q)
T T T F F F F
T F T F T F F
F T T T F F F
F F F T T T T
Figure 4. The statement forms ~ 𝑝  ~𝑞 and ~(𝑝  𝑞) have the
same truth values as each other, under all possible truth conditions.

Very few statements with significant mathematical content that are easily
understandable can be formulated by using the connectives and, or, and not alone. As noted

36
earlier, most theorems have form “if … then” or “if and only if,” while every definition, by
nature, admits an “if and only if” formulation. Thus we are led to Definition 5.

Definition. Given statements p and q, we define:

(a) The statement p implies q, denoted 𝑝 → 𝑞, also read “if p, then q,” is true except
in the case where p is true and q is false. Such statement is called a conditional;
the component statements p and q are called the premise and conclusion,
respectively.
(b) The statement p if and only if q, denoted 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞, also written “p iff q,” is true
precisely in the cases where p and q are both true or p and q are both false.
Such statement is called a biconditional.

The truth tables for these two connectives are given in Figure 5.

p q p→q pq
T T T T
T F F F
F T T F
F F T T
Figure 5. Truth tables for the conditional and biconditional.

Examples of conditionals include:

1. If I finish my work, I go out on the town.
2. If 2 + 2 = 5, then {0, 1}  (0, 1).
3. If 2 + 2 = 4, then 5 is not a prime number.

Examples of biconditionals include:

4. 3 is odd if and only if 4 is even. (true)
5. 7 + 6 = 14 if and only if 7 times 6 equals 41. (true)
6. A triangle has three sides if and only if a hexagon has seven sides. (false)

Theorems of Propositional Calculus

The theorems of the propositional calculus are the tautologies. The tautologies of primary
interest for mathematics are those whose main connective is either the biconditional or the
conditional, that is, the equivalences and the implications. If p and q are compound
statement forms, then the statement form 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞 is a tautology if and only if p and q are
logically equivalent. Thus we refer to any tautology having the biconditional as its main
connective as an equivalence.

P Q p q p→q q→p p→q q→p

T T F F T T T T
T F F T F T T F
F T T F T F F T
F F T T T T T T
Figure 6. Truth tables for the original, converse, inverse, and
contrapositive of a conditional p → q.

Example 8. Find pairs of equivalent statement forms among 𝑝 → 𝑞,

𝑞 → 𝑝, ~𝑞 → ~𝑝, ~𝑝 → ~𝑞.

37
Solution. We can most efficiently deal with this problem by constructing a single
truth table, as illustrated in Figure 6. A comparison of columns (5) through
(8) shows that 𝑝 → 𝑞 and ~𝑞 → ~𝑝 are logically equivalent, as are 𝑞 → 𝑝
and ~𝑝 → ~𝑞.

Definition. If 𝑝 → 𝑞 is a conditional, then the corresponding conditional ~𝑞 → ~𝑝 is called

its contrapositive, 𝑞 → 𝑝 is called its converse, and ~𝑝 → ~𝑞 is called its inverse.

The final outcome of Example 6 is that any conditional is equivalent to its

contrapositive, but not to its converse and inverse. The converse and inverse of a given
conditional, however, are equivalent to each other. The theorem of the propositional calculus
suggested by Example 6 is: The statement form (𝑝 → 𝑞)  (~𝑞 → ~𝑝) is a tautology. The
fact that 𝑝 → 𝑞 is not equivalent to its converse 𝑞 → 𝑝 means that the statement of the form
𝑝 → 𝑞 can be true, even when the corresponding statement 𝑞 → 𝑝 is false.

In the next example we encounter two more important equivalences; the statement
form p  q is equivalent to (𝑝 → 𝑞)  (𝑞 → 𝑝) and the form 𝑝 → (𝑞  𝑟) is equivalent to
(𝑝   𝑞) → 𝑟.

Example 9. Show that the following biconditionals are tautologies:

(a) (𝑝  𝑞)  [(𝑝 → 𝑞)  (𝑞 → 𝑝)]

(b) [𝑝 → (𝑞  𝑟)]  [(𝑝   𝑞) → 𝑟]

Solution. We construct truth tables as shown in Figures 7a and 7b:

(a)
p q p→q q→p (p → q)  (q → p) pq 
T T T T T T T
T F F T F F T
F T T F F F T
F F T T T T T
(b)
p q r q  r p → (q  r) q pq (p   q) → r 
T T T T T F F T T
T F T T T T T T T
F T T T T F F T T
F F T T T T F T T
T T F T T F F T T
T F F F F T T F T
F T F T T F F T T
F F F F T T F T T
Figure 7. Truth table proofs of two important equivalences.

In both examples the conclusion that the given biconditional statement is a tautology
follows from the column of T’s at the right of both tables. In Figure 7a we obtain the values
in the final column by linking the fifth and sixth columns by the connective . In Figure 7b
we make the same final step, linking columns 5 and 8.

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English-Language Translations of the Conditional and Biconditional Connectives

As seen already, certain uses of the proportional calculus require that we translate
sentences expressed in English into precise symbolic form. Since there are many ways of
expressing an idea in English, the following list of translations may prove helpful.

Remark 1. The following three lists provide translations between English sentences and
symbolic representation of those sentences.

1. p → q may be interpreted in any of the following ways:

a) If p, then q (q if p)
b) p implies q (q is implied by p)
c) Whenever p, then q (q whenever p)
d) p is stronger than q (q is weaker than p)
e) q unless  p ( p unless q)
f) If not q, then not p (p only if q)
g) Not q implies not p (not p is implied by not q)
h) p is sufficient for q ( q is sufficient for  p)
i) q is necessary for p ( p is necessary for  q)
j) Either not p or q

2. p  q may be interpreted as:

a) p is equivalent to q
b) p if and only if q
c) p is necessary and sufficient for q
d) p implies q and q implies p
e) If p, then q and if q, then p

3. The following miscellaneous correspondences are also valid:

Sentence Symbolic translation

a) p or q or both pq
b) p or q, but not both  (p  q)
c) p, but not q pq
d) p unless q q→p

39