Propositional Logic

Logistics: Lecture Participation

 Lecture Participation
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Starting Wednesday, we will be using the website PollEV
to ask questions in lecture for attendance credit.
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If you answer these questions in lecture, you’ll get
attendance credit for the day.
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You don’t need to have the right answers – you just need to
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We’ll send out a form where you can opt-out of participation in
Week 4.
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CGOE students: We automatically opt you out of
participation, since we assume you aren’t physically here.
 Lecture Participation
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We’ll dry-run PollEV questions today.
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Let’s start with the following warm-up:
Click “Register”
and enter your
Stanford e-mail to
Make a music recommendation!
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get to the SUNet
login page.

Answer at
https://cs103.stanford.edu/pollev

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Here are a few music recs of our own:
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Jami Sieber - Timeless.
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Aaron Parks - Little Big and Little Big II.
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Arthur Moon - NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert.
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Shakey Graves – Roll the Bones (check out Audiotree Live version).
Propositional Logic
 Question: How do we formalize the
definitions and reasoning we use in our
proofs?
 Where We're Going
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Propositional Logic (Today)
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Reasoning about Boolean values.
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First-Order Logic (Wednesday/Friday)
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Reasoning about properties of multiple
objects.
 Outline for Today
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Propositional Variables
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Booleans, math edition!
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Propositional Connectives
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Linking things together.
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Truth Tables
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Rigorously defining connectives.
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Simplifying Negations
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Mechanically computing negations.
Propositional Logic
TakeMath51 ∨ TakeCME100

¬FirstSucceed → TryAgain

IsCardinal ∧ IsWhite
TakeMath51 ∨ TakeCME100

¬FirstSucceed → TryAgain

IsCardinal ∧ IsWhite

These are propositional

variables. Each propositional
variable stands for a
proposition, something that is
either true or false.
TakeMath51 ∨ TakeCME100

¬FirstSucceed → TryAgain

IsCardinal ∧ IsWhite

These are propositional

connectives, which link
propositions into larger
propositions
 Propositional Variables
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In propositional logic, individual
propositions are represented by
propositional variables.

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Each variable can take one one of two
values: true or false. You can think of
them as bool values.
 Propositional Connectives
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There are seven propositional connectives, five
of which will be familiar from programming.
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First, there’s the logical “NOT” operation:

¬p
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You’d read this out loud as “not p.”
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The fancy name for this operation is logical
negation.
 Truth Tables
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A truth table is a table showing the
truth value of a propositional logic
formula as a function of its inputs.
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Let’s examine the truth tables for the
connectives we’re exploring today!
 “I don’t love cupcakes.”

LoveCupcakes : I love cupcakes.

¬LoveCupcakes
 Propositional Variables
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In propositional logic, individual propositions
are represented by propositional variables.
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Each variable can take one one of two values:
true or false. You can think of them as bool
values.
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In a move that contravenes programming style
conventions, propositional variables are usually
represented as lower-case letters, such as p, q,
r, s, etc.
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That said, there’s nothing stopping you from using
multiletter names!
 “I don’t love cupcakes.”

LoveCupcakes : I love cupcakes.

¬LoveCupcakes
 Propositional Connectives
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There are seven propositional connectives, five
of which will be familiar from programming.
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Next, there’s the logical “AND” operation:

p∧q
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You’d read this out loud as “p and q.”
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The fancy name for this operation is logical
conjunction.
“It’s cardinal and white.”

IsCardinal : It’s cardinal.

IsWhite : It’s white.

IsCardinal ∧ IsWhite
 Propositional Connectives
●
There are seven propositional connectives, five
of which will be familiar from programming.
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Then, there’s the logical “OR” operation:

p∨q
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You’d read this out loud as “p or q.”
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The fancy name for this operation is logical
disjunction. This is an inclusive or.
 “You must take Math 51 or CME 100.”

TakeMath51 : You must take Math 51.

TakeCME100 : You must take CME 100.

TakeMath51 ∨ TakeCME100
 Propositional Connectives
●
There are seven propositional connectives, five
of which will be familiar from programming.
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There’s also the “truth” connective:

⊤
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You’d read this out loud as “true.”
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Although this is technically considered a a
connective, it “connects” zero things and
behaves like a variable that’s always true.
 Propositional Connectives
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There are seven propositional connectives, five
of which will be familiar from programming.
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Finally, there’s the “false” connective.

⊥
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You’d read this out loud as “false.”
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Like ⊤, this is technically a connective, but
acts like a variable that’s always false.
 Inclusive and Exclusive OR
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The ∨ connective is an inclusive “or.” It's true if at
least one of the operands is true.
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It’s similar to the || operator in C, C++, Java, etc. and
the or operator in Python.
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Sometimes we need an exclusive “or,” which isn’t
true if both inputs are true.
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We can build this out of what we already have.

Write a propositional logic

formula for the exclusive OR
of p and q.

Answer at
https://cs103.stanford.edu/pollev
 Quick Question:

What would I have to show you to convince

you that the statement p ∧ q is false?
 Quick Question:

What would I have to show you to convince

you that the statement p ∨ q is false?
 de Morgan’s Laws

¬(p ∧ q) is equivalent to ??

¬(p ∨ q) is equivalent to ??
 de Morgan’s Laws in Code
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Pro tip: Don't write this:
if (!(p() && q())) {
/* … */
}
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Write this instead:
if (!p() || !q()) {
/* … */
}
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(This even short-circuits correctly: if p()
returns false, q() is never evaluated.)
Mathematical Implication
 Implication
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We can represent implications using this
connective:

p→q
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You’d read this out loud as “p implies q.”
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The fancy name for this is the material
conditional.
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Question: What should the truth table for
p → q look like?
p q p→q
F F T
F T T
T F F
T T T
 p q p→q
F F T
F T T
T F F
T T T

An implication is false only Every formula is either true

when the antecedent is true or false, so these other
and the consequent is false. entries have to be true.
 p q p→q
F F T
F T T
T F F
T T T

Important observation:
The statement p → q is true
whenever p ∧ ¬q is false.
 p q p→q
F F T
F T T
T F F
T T T

An implication with a An implication with a

false antecedent is true consequent is called
called vacuously true. trivially true.
 p q p→q
F F T
F T T
T F F
T T T

Please commit this table

to memory. We’re going to
need it, extensively, over
the next couple of weeks.
“If at first you don’t succeed, try again.”

FirstSucceed : You succeed at first.

TryAgain : You ought to try again.

¬FirstSucceed → TryAgain
 JerseyMikes : It’s Jersey Mike’s.
FreshlySliced : It’s freshly sliced.

¬FreshlySliced → ¬JerseyMikes
Contrapositive?
 JerseyMikes : It’s Jersey Mike’s.
FreshlySliced : It’s freshly sliced.

¬FreshlySliced → ¬JerseyMikes
JerseyMikes → FreshlySliced
 An Important Equivalence
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The truth table for for p → q is chosen so
that the following is true:
p→q is equivalent to ¬(p ∧ ¬q)
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Later on, this equivalence will be
incredibly useful:
¬(p → q) is equivalent to p ∧ ¬q
 Side Note: Contrapositive

We can use truth tables to demonstrate the

equivalence of p → q and ¬q → ¬p.

p q p → q ¬q ¬p ¬q → ¬p
F F T T T T
F T T F T T
T F F T F F
T T T F F T

same :)
The Biconditional Connective
 The Biconditional Connective
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In our previous lecture, we saw that the
statement “p if and only if q” means both that
p → q and q → p.
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We can write this in propositional logic using
the biconditional connective:

p↔q
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This connective’s truth table has the same
meaning as “p implies q and q implies p.”
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Based on that, what should its truth table look
like?
 Biconditionals
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The biconditional connective p ↔ q has
the same truth table as (p → q) ∧ (q → p).
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Here’s what that looks like:

p q p↔q
One interpretation of ↔
F F T is to think of it as

F T F equality: the two

propositions must have
T F F equal truth values.

T T T
 Negating a Biconditional
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How do we simplify
¬(p ↔ q)
using the tools we’ve seen so far?
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There are many options, but here are our
two favorites:
p ↔ ¬q ¬p ↔ q
Question to ponder: what is
the truth table for these
statements, and where have
you seen it before?
 Operator Precedence
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How do we parse this statement?
¬x → y ∨ z → x ∨ y ∧ z
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Operator precedence for propositional logic:
¬
∧
∨
→
↔
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All operators are right-associative.
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We can use parentheses to disambiguate.
 Operator Precedence
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The main points to remember:
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¬ binds to whatever immediately follows it.
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∧ and ∨ bind more tightly than →.
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We will commonly write expressions like
p ∧ q → r without adding parentheses.
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For more complex expressions, we'll try to
add parentheses.
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Confused? Please ask!
 The Big Table
Connective Read Aloud As C++ Version Fancy Name Negation

¬p “not” ! Negation p

¬p ∨ ¬q
p∧q “and” && Conjunction
p → ¬q

p∨q “or” || Disjunction ¬p ∧ ¬q

⊤ “true” true Truth ⊥

⊥ “false” false Falsity ⊤

p→q “implies” see PS2! Implication p ∧ ¬q

p ↔ ¬q
p↔q “if and only if” see PS2! Biconditional
¬p ↔ q
Time-Out for Announcements!
 ✉️ Submitting Work ✉️
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All assignments should be submitted through GradeScope.
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The programming portion of the assignment is submitted separately
from the written component.
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The written component must be typed; handwritten solutions don’t
scan well and get mangled in GradeScope.
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All assignments are due at 1:00PM. You have three “late days”
you can use throughout the quarter. Each automagically extends
assignment deadlines from Friday at 1:00PM to Saturday at
1:00PM; at most one late day can be used per assignment.
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Very good idea: Leave at least two hours buffer time for your first
assignment submission, just in case something goes wrong.
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Very bad idea: Wait until the last minute to submit.
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Your score on the problem sets is the square root of your raw
score. So an 81% maps to a 90%, a 50% maps to a 71%, etc. This
gives a huge boost even if you need to turn something in that
isn’t done.
 Office Hours
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Office hours have started (as of Sunday)! Think of them
as “drop-in help hours” where you can ask questions on
problem sets, lecture topics, etc.
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Check the Guide to Office Hours on the course website for the
schedule.
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TA office hours are held in person in the Huang
basement. Keith’s are in Durand 317. Sean’s are in
Durand 331-B.
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Once you arrive, sign up on QueueStatus so that we can
help people in the order they arrived:
https://queuestatus.com/queues/782
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Office hours are much less crowded earlier in the week
than later. Stop by on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday!
Back to CS103!
 Recap So Far
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A propositional variable is a variable that is
either true or false.
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The propositional connectives are
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Negation: ¬p
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Conjunction: p ∧ q
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Disjunction: p ∨ q
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Truth: ⊤
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Falsity: ⊥
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Implication: p → q
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Biconditional: p ↔ q
Why All This Matters
 Why All This Matters
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Suppose we want to prove the following
statement:
“If x + y = 16, then x ≥ 8 or y ≥ 8”
 Why All This Matters
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Suppose we want to prove the following
statement:
“If x + y = 16, then x ≥ 8 or y ≥ 8”

x < 8 ∧ y < 8 → x + y ≠ 16

“If x < 8 and y < 8, then x + y ≠ 16”

Theorem: If x + y = 16, then x ≥ 8 or y ≥ 8.

Proof: We will prove the contrapositive, namely, that

if x < 8 and y < 8, then x + y ≠ 16.
Pick x and y where x < 8 and y < 8. We want to show
that x + y ≠ 16. To see this, note that
x+y<8+y
<8+8
= 16.
This means that x + y < 16, so x + y ≠ 16, which is
what we needed to show. ■
 Why This Matters
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Propositional logic lets us symbolically
manipulate statements and theorems.
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This can help us better understand what a
theorem says or what a definition means.
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It’s also very useful for proofs by
contradiction and contrapositive.
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Being able to negate statements
mechanically can reduce the likelihood of
taking an negation of contrapositive
wrong.
 Negation Practice
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Here’s a propositional formula that
contains some negations. Simplify it as
much as possible:
¬(p ∧ q → r ∨ s)
 Negation Practice
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Here’s a propositional formula that
contains some negations. Simplify it as
much as possible:
p ∧ q ∧ ¬r ∧ ¬s
 Negation Practice
●
Here’s a propositional formula that
contains some negations. Simplify it as
much as possible:
¬((p ∨ (q ∧ r)) ↔ (a ∧ b ∧ c → d))
 Negation Practice
●
Here’s a propositional formula that
contains some negations. Simplify it as
much as possible:
((p ∨ (q ∧ r)) ↔ (a ∧ b ∧ c ∧ ¬d))
 Next Time
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First-Order Logic
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Reasoning about groups of objects.
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First-Order Translations
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Expressing yourself in symbolic math!