Mathematical Language and Logic (Part 3)
Mathematical Language and Logic (Part 3)
Mathematics Area
De La Salle Lipa
Contents
Statements
Remark
As long as a sentence is either true or false, even if we do
not know which it is, then that sentence is a statement.
Statements
Statements
Statements (Notation)
Notation
The truthfulness or falsity of a statement is called its
truth value.
In general we denote mathematical statements by small
letters p, q, r, . . . and we denote their truth value by
either T (True) or F (False).
Definition
When one or more simple statements are combined with
logical connectives such as and, or, not, if . . . then,
and if and only if, the result is called a compound
statement, while the simple statements that make up the
compound statement are called component statements.
Examples
Decide whether each statement is compound.
1 George Washington was the first U.S. president, and
John Adams was his vice president.
(This statement is compound using the connective
“and”. The component statements are “George
Washington was the first U.S. president” and “John
Adams was his vice president”.)
Examples
Decide whether each statement is compound.
2 If what you’ve told me is true, then we are in great
peril.
(This statement is also compound. The component
statements “what you’ve told me is true” and “we
are in great peril” are linked with the connective
“if . . . then”.)
Examples
Decide whether each statement is compound.
3 We drive across New Mexico toward the town with
the curious name Truth or Consequences.
(This statement is not compound. Even though “or”
is a connective, here it is part of the name of the
city. It is not connecting two statements.)
Notation
Mathematically, the symbol for conjunction is ∧ and the
symbol for disjunction is ∨; in brief
conjunction and ∧
disjunction or ∨
Definition (Negation)
For any given statement p, the negation of p can be
formed by writing “It is not the case...” or “It is false
that...” before p or, if possible, by inserting in p the word
“not”.
Notation
Mathematically, the symbol for negation is ∼ or ¬; in brief
negation not ∼ or ¬
p→q