REPORT FOR DISCRETE

MATHEMATICS COURSE

2022
What do you think about
“The proposition”
by
MASALIH ZAINAB

Nanjing university of Science and Technology

Software Engineering

22/12/2022
Authored by: 马莎-92115855E129
马莎 92115855E129

Table of Contents
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................3
I. What is logic? ...................................................................................................................................4
Importance of Mathematical Logic......................................................................................................4
II. What is a proposition? .....................................................................................................................5
1. Connectives:.................................................................................................................................6
III. De Morgan’s Law: ............................................................................................................................8
1. Special Conditional Statements: ..................................................................................................8
2. Precedence order of Logical Connectives: ..................................................................................9
IV. Logical Equivalences: .....................................................................................................................10
Conclusion:.............................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction

Discrete mathematics is the study of mathematical structures that are countable

or otherwise distinct and separable. It is also called Decision Mathematics or
finite Mathematics. It is the study of mathematical structures that are
fundamentally discrete in nature, and it does not require the notion of
continuity.
Objects that are studied in discrete mathematics are largely countable sets such
as formal languages, integers, finite graphs, and so on. Due to its application in
Computer Science, it has become popular in recent decades. It is used in
programming languages, software development, cryptography, algorithms etc.
Discrete Mathematics covers some important concepts such as set theory, graph
theory, logic, permutation and combination as well. In this report, let us discuss
the importance of logic in detail.

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I. What is logic?

Logic is the basis of all mathematical reasoning, and of all automated reasoning.
The rules of logic specify the meaning of mathematical statements.
Importance of Mathematical Logic
The rules of logic give precise meaning to mathematical statements. These rules
are used to distinguish between valid and invalid mathematical arguments.
Apart from its importance in understanding mathematical reasoning, logic has
numerous applications in Computer Science, varying from design of digital
circuits to the construction of computer programs and verification of correctness
of programs.
Propositional logic is a branch of mathematical logic which studies the logical
relationships between propositions (or statements, sentences, assertions) taken
as a whole, and connected via logical connectives.
Propositional logic is also known by the names sentential logic, propositional
calculus and sentential calculus. It is useful in a variety of fields, including,
but not limited to:
• Workflow problems
• Computer logic gates
• Computer science
• Game strategies
• Designing electrical systems

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II. What is a proposition?

A proposition is the basic building block of logic. It is defined as a declarative

sentence (that is, a sentence that declares a fact) that is either True or False, but
not both.
The Truth Value of a proposition is True (denoted as T) if it is a true statement,
and False (denoted as F) if it is a false statement.
In other areas (for example computer logic gates) these values are given by the
binary representations 1 (true) and 0 (false).
For Example:
1. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West.
2. 1 + 1 = 2
3. 'b' is a vowel.

All the above sentences are propositions, where the first two are Valid (True)
and the third one is Invalid (False).
Some sentences that do not have a truth value or may have more than one truth
value are not propositions.
For Example:
1. What time is it?
2. Go out and play.
3. x + 1 = 2.

The above sentences are not propositions as the first two do not have a truth
value, and the third one may be true or false. To represent propositions,
propositional variables are used.
We use letters to denote propositional variables (or statement variables), that is,
variables that represent propositions, just as letters are used to denote numerical
variables.
By Convention, these variables are represented by small alphabets such as p, q,
r, s, ….
The area of logic which deals with propositions is called propositional calculus
or propositional logic.

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It also includes producing new propositions using existing ones. Propositions

constructed using one or more propositions are called compound propositions.
The propositions are combined together using Logical Connectives or Logical
Operators.

1. Connectives:

In propositional logic, the relationships between propositions are represented by

connectives.
There are essentially five different connectives outlined in the following table:
Connective Symbol Description
Negation ¬ NOT
Conjugation ∧ AND
Disjunction ∨ OR
Conditional → IF... THEN
Biconditional ↔ IF AND ONLY IF
Exclusive Or ⨁ XOR

✓ Truth Table
Since we need to know the truth value of a proposition in all possible scenarios,
we consider all the possible combinations of the propositions which are joined
together by Logical Connectives to form the given compound proposition. This
compilation of all possible scenarios in a tabular format is called a truth table.

✓ Most Common Logical Connectives:

P Q ¬𝑃 𝑃∧𝑄 𝑃∨𝑄 𝑃→𝑄 𝑃↔𝑄 𝑃⨁𝑄
1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1
0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0

1=True; 0=False

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✓ Famous logical identities:

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III. De Morgan’s Law:

In propositional logic and Boolean algebra, De Morgan’s laws are a pair of

transformation rules that are both valid rules of inference. They are named after
Augustus De Morgan, a 19th-century British mathematician. The rules allow the
expression of conjunctions and disjunctions purely in terms of each other via
negation.
In formal language, the rules are written as:
• ¬(𝑃 ∧ 𝑄) ≡ ¬𝑃 ∨ ¬𝑄
• ¬(𝑃 ∨ 𝑄) ≡ ¬𝑃 ∧ ¬𝑄

Proof by Truth Table:

P Q ¬𝑃 ¬𝑄 𝑃∧𝑄 ¬𝑃 𝑃∨𝑄 ¬𝑃 ∧ ¬𝑄
∨ ¬𝑄
1 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0
0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0
0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1

1=True; 0=False

1. Special Conditional Statements:

As we know that we can form new propositions using existing propositions and
logical connectives.
There are three related conditional statements that occur so often that they have
special names.
Statement If P, then Q
Converse If Q, then P
Contrapositive If not Q, then not P
Inverse If not P, then not Q

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2. Precedence order of Logical Connectives:

Logical connectives are used to construct compound propositions by joining

existing propositions. Although parenthesis can be used to specify the order in
which the logical operators in the compound proposition need to be applied,
there exists a precedence order in Logical Operators.
The precedence Order is:
Operator Precedence
¬ 1
∧ 2
∨ 3
→ 4
↔ 5

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IV. Logical Equivalences:

Conclusion:
As software engineering student, I see the propositional logic is so important in
my major since it is widely adopted in advanced search in AI in solving
complex problems.

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