MODULE THREE

LOGIC
Module 3 explored the fabric from which the mathematical landscape is woven. It
is the art and science of right thinking and reasoning: logic. It disciplined learners'
understanding by exploring the application of formal logic to mathematics.

[email protected]
 MABINI COLLEGES, INC.
DAET, CAMARINES NORTE
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

MODULE 3 : Logic
TOPIC 1 : Logical Propositions and Quantifiers

MODULE OVERVIEW

Logic is the study of the methods and principles by which right and wrong reasoning can be
distinguished. How can one reason logically and test the validity of an argument about any given thing?
What role do connectives, quantifiers, negations, and variables play in modern logic and its symbolic
language?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After completing this module, you can:

1. Define simple proposition and compound proposition.
2. Write compound proposition using connectives.
3. Express simple and compound proposition symbolically.
4. Write the negation of a quantified proposition.

LECTURE NOTES

Discussions
Simple Proposition and Compound Proposition

Like any other discipline, the language of logic has its own syntax. The reader must know
the rules of the language, the symbols used, and the definition of the terms. We first give the formal
definition of the basic element of logic, the proposition.

A proposition is a declarative sentence that is either true or false, but not both true and
false.

Example 1: Determine whether the following sentences are proposition or not a proposition.

1. Batangas is a province of the Philippines.

2. People with ages from 21 to 59 years old cannot be infected by COVID-19 virus.
3. x+1=5
4. Open the door.
5. What is your mother’s name?

[email protected]
Solution:
1. The first sentence is a true sentence. This is a proposition.
2. The second sentence is a false sentence. This a proposition.
3. The third sentence is either true or false depending on the value of x. This sentence cannot be
both true and false at the same time in a specific value of x. Therefore, Sentence 3 is a
proposition.
4. Sentence 4 is not a declarative sentence. Hence, this is not a proposition.
5. Sentence 5 is not a declarative sentence. This is not a proposition.

Sometimes, you may not know whether the given sentence is true or false, but you know that
the sentence is either true or false and that it is not both true and false. Examples of this are given
below. These two sentences are proposition.

Example 2:
1. Jaime Mora was the coach of Philippine Sepak Takraw team in 2015 SEA Games.
2. In 2022, the next president of the Philippines is a woman.

There are some sentences that are both true and false at the same time. This kind of sentence
is not considered a proposition, based on the definition of a proposition. For example, consider the
sentence below.

“This is false sentence.”

The above sentence is not a proposition because if we assume it to be a true sentence, then it
is false, and if we assume it to be a false sentence, then it is true. Propositions cannot be true and false
at the same time. In other references, the term proposition is also called statement. There two kinds
of proposition: simple and compound proposition. Their definitions are given below.

A simple proposition is a proposition that conveys a single idea. A compound proposition is a

proposition that conveys two or more ideas.

By connecting simple proposition with words and phrases such as and, or, if . . . then, and if and
only if creates a compound proposition. These words and phrases are called connectives.

Example 3: The following are examples of simple and compound proposition. The first two proposition
are simple and the last two proposition are compound proposition.

1. I will play Mobile Legend.

2. I will go to school.
3. I will play Mobile Legend or I will go to school.
4. I will play Mobile Legend and I will go to school.

[email protected]
Notations: For convenience, there are notations used to represent proposition and connectives.
Propositions are usually represented by a lower-case letter such as p, q, r, ands. The symbols for
connectives are as follows:

∧ - symbol for the connective “and”

∨ - symbol for the connective “or”
→ - symbol for the connective “if . . . then”
↔ - symbol for the connective “if and only if”

Negation

Another important notion here is the negation of a proposition. The definition of the negation and
its notation is given below.

Let be 𝑝 a proposition. The negation of 𝑝, denoted by ∼ 𝑝, (read as “not 𝑝”) is a proposition that
is false if 𝑝 is true, and it is true if 𝑝 is false.

On the left of the table below are the proposition. The corresponding negation of the proposition
can be found on the right column of the table. It is worth noting that the negation of the negation of the
proposition is the original proposition. That is, if 𝑝 is a proposition, then ∼ (∼ 𝑝) = 𝑝.

Proposition Negation of the Proposition

1. Rachelle is a blue badge umpire in the table 1. Rachelle is not a blue badge umpire in the
tennis. table tennis.
2. The color of the roof is not green. 2. The color of the roof is green.
3. 𝑥 = 5 3. 𝑥 ≠ 5
The next example tells us how to write compound proposition into symbolic forms.
𝑝 : I will play table tennis;
𝑞 : I will go to school;
𝑟 : I will not do my assignment
Example 4: Consider the symbols corresponding to the proposition below. Translate the following
compound proposition in symbolic form.
1. I will play table tennis or I will go to school.
2. I will go to school and I will not play table tennis.
3. If I will go to school then I will do my assignment.
4. I will play table tennis if and only if I will not go to school.
Solution: The symbols corresponding to the above proposition are given below.
1. 𝑝 ∨ 𝑞
2. 𝑞 ∧ ~𝑝
3. 𝑞 →∼ 𝑟
4. 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞

[email protected]
 Type of Propositions

A compound proposition can be classified according to the connectives used.

1. A proposition is called disjunction if the connective “or” is used.

2. A proposition is called conjunction if the connective “and” is used.
3. A proposition is called conditional if the connective “if . . . only” is used.
4. A proposition is called biconditional if the connective “if and only if” is used.

Note: In some cases, the word “but” generally means the same as “and”, and the phrase “neither A nor
B” is translated as “not A and not B”.

The table below describes logic connectives, propositions, symbolic form, and type of proposition.
Let p and q as simple proposition.

Proposition Connective Symbolic Form Type of Proposition

𝑝 and 𝑞 And 𝑝∧𝑞 Conjunction
𝑝 or 𝑞 Or 𝑝 ∨ 𝑞 Disjunction
If 𝑝, then 𝑞 If … then 𝑝 → 𝑞 Conditional
𝑝 if and only if 𝑞 if and only if 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞 Biconditional
Not 𝑝 not ~𝑝 Negation

Compound Proposition and Grouping Symbols

Compound proposition may contain more than two simple propositions. To avoid confusion with the
meaning of the propositions, groupings of propositions are necessary. Here are the rules in groupings:

Rules of Grouping of a Compound Proposition

1. In symbolic form, the parentheses are used to indicate the simple proposition that are being
grouped together.

2. In sentence form, a comma is used to indicate which simple proposition are group together. That
is, propositions of the same side of a comma are group together.

The meaning of the proposition is affected by the parenthesis of the symbolic propositions. For
example, the compound proposition ∼ (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) is different from ~𝑝 ∧ 𝑞. The former is the negation
of the compound proposition 𝑝 ∧ 𝑞. The proposition ∼ (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) is read as “It is not true that, 𝑝 ∧ 𝑞”.
In the latter, the negation is on the proposition 𝑝 only and read as “Not 𝑝 and 𝑞”.

Note: In translating compound proposition in symbolic form to an English sentence, the simple
proposition inside the parentheses in the symbolic form will all be on the same side of the comma that
appears in the English sentence.

[email protected]
Example 5: Let p, q, and r represent the following proposition.

𝑝 : John’s playing style is the same as Lebron’s.

𝑞 : Hazel has straight hair.
𝑟 : John is a basketball player.

a. Write the symbolic form as an English sentence.

(𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) → 𝑟

b. Write in symbolic form the given proposition below.

If John is not a basketball player or Hazel has a straight hair, then John’s playing style is not
the same as Lebron’s.

Solution:
a. Since p and q are grouped together, they must be on the same side of the comma in English
sentences. Hence, this becomes, “If John’s playing style is the same as Lebron’s and Hazel has
straight hair, then John is a basketball player.”

b. The proposition “John is not a basketball player” and “John’s playing style is not the same as
Lebron’s” are the negation of the proposition 𝑟 and 𝑝, respectively. The sentence is a conditional
form and the first two propositions are of the same side of the comma. Hence, the symbolic form
is (𝑟 ∨ 𝑞) → 𝑝

Quantifiers and their Negation

In English sentences, some are true for all or it is true for some conditions. In order that these
kinds of sentences are to be proposition, quantifiers are needed.

Existential and Universal Quantifiers

• Existential Quantifiers. These are used as prefixes to assert the existence of something. These
include the word some, and the phrases there exists and at least one.
• Universal Quantifiers. These are used as prefixes to assert that every element of a given set
satisfies some conditions or to deny the existence of something. These include the words all, every,
none, and no.

Example 6: The first two proposition used existential quantifiers and last two propositions used universal
quantifiers.
1. Some coffee shops are open.
2. There exists an integer 𝑛 such that 3𝑛 ≥ 120.
3. All players are nice people.
4. No even integers are divisible by 3.

[email protected]
 Negation of propositions involving quantifiers

In the previous discussion, it is known that the negation of a proposition is false if the proposition
is true and it is true if the proposition is false. This concept must be considered in constructing the
negation of a proposition involving quantifiers.

For example, let us consider the proposition “Some coffee shops are open”. Suppose this
proposition is true, this means that some coffee shops are open, and others are not open. To find its
negation, we need to write a proposition that is false if that given proposition is true and false if
otherwise. Observe that the proposition “Some coffee shops are not open” has the same meaning as
the first proposition. Hence, this proposition cannot be the negation of the given proposition. Thus, the
proposition “No coffee shops are open” will make the given proposition false. Hence, it is the negation
of the given proposition.

The table below shows the negation of the quantified proposition and their negation.

Quantified Propositions Negation

All X are Y Some X are not Y

No X are Y Some X are Y

Some X are Y No X are Y

Some X are not Y All X are Y

[email protected]