Introduction to Logic (CS), 2022-2023

University of Groningen
Midterm Exam

Thursday 6 Oct 2022, 18:30-20:30

INSTRUCTIONS: READ CAREFULLY

• Write your student number (S-number) in the top-right corner of each sheet of paper. Make
sure it is written clearly! We advise you to do this at the beginning of the exam. Sheets without
student number will be invalid. Do not write your name so as to enable anonymous grading.
• Indicate clearly the question you are answering by writing e.g. Q1. Answers to subquestions
within a main question should be written in the correct order, and be clearly marked including the
main question to which they belong. For example, Q2a, Q2b. Main questions can be answered in
arbitrary order.
• Write clearly and legibly. We cannot grade what we cannot read.
• Write with a black or dark blue pen (so no pencil, no red pen).
• You are allowed to use a (preferably transparent) ruler for drawing lines in truth tables and proofs.
• Calculators, smart phones and dumb phones are not allowed to be used during the exam.
• The exam is closed book : You are not allowed to consult any course materials or notes.
• You are not allowed to communicate with other students during the exam.
• This midterm exam consists of 6 regular questions plus 1 bonus question printed on the next
2 pages.
• With the regular questions, you can earn 100 points. With the bonus question, you can earn an
additional 10 points. The grade is the number of points you earned divided by 10, with a maximum
of 10.

GOOD LUCK!

1
Midterm Exam Questions
1. (10 points) Is the following argument valid? Briefly explain your answer. (Note: You are NOT
asked to provide a translation into FOL.)
Charlie likes all chocolates.
All chocolates are sweets.
Some sweets are healthy foods.

Charlie likes some healthy foods.

2. (10 points) Translate the following sentences into propositional logic, where atomic sentences are
represented by upper-case letters. Do not forget to provide the translation key.
(a) (5 points) You get either a voucher or a welcome discount, but not both, if you subscribe to the
newsletter.
(b) (5 points) Today is neither Saturday nor Sunday just in case today is a weekday.
3. (10 points) Translate the following sentences into first-order logic with predicates, functions and
constants. Do not forget to provide the translation key.
(a) (5 points) Amir and Bhavika are cousins in case Amir’s father is a brother of Bhavika’s mother.
(The domain of discourse consists of all people, and we assume that everyone has exactly one
mother and exactly one father.)
(b) (5 points) Claire asks her assistant to pick up the director of the company unless the director
of the company asks her own assistant to pick up both her and Claire.
(The domain of discourse consists of all people, and we assume that everyone has exactly one
assistant.)
4. (30 points) Give formal proofs, including justifications, for the following inferences. You may only
use the Reiteration rule and the Introduction and Elimination rules for identity, the Boolean con-
nectives and the (bi)conditional.
(a) (10 points) P ∨ ¬Q
¬(¬P ∧ Q)
(b) (10 points) (¬A → B) → ¬A
¬A
(c) (10 points) (a = b) ↔ (c = b)
¬(a = c)
¬(a = b)
5. (20 points) Use truth tables to answer the next questions. Make the full truth table, indicate the
order in which you compute the columns, and motivate your answer. Order the rows in the truth
tables as follows:
P Q R ... a = b b = c a = c ...
t t t ... t t t ...
t t f ... t t f ...
t f t ... t f t ...
t f f ... t f f ...
f t t ... f t t ...
f t f ... f t f ...
f f t ... f f t ...
f f f ... f f f ...
(a) (10 points) Is (¬(a = b) ∨ ¬(b = c)) → ¬(a = c) a logical truth?
Indicate the spurious rows, and remember to draw an explicit conclusion from the truth table.
Explain your answer.
(b) (10 points) Is ((P ∧ ¬Q) → (Q ∧ R)) ↔ (P ∧ ¬Q) a contradiction?
Draw an explicit conclusion from the truth table. Explain your answer.

Page 2
6. (20 points) In this question, we ask you to compute normal forms. Provide a chain-of-equivalences
proof, indicating in each step which logical law you used.
• Please use the following abbreviations:
– Def→ for definability of →
– DeM for De Morgan
– NN for the law of double negation
– left-D∨ for left-distributivity of ∨ over ∧
– left-D∧ for left-distributivity of ∧ over ∨
– similarly for right-D∨ and right-D∧
– A∧ for associativity of ∧, similarly for A∨
– C∧ for commutativity of ∧, similarly for C∨
– I∧ for idempotence of ∧, similarly for I∨
• In each step, you are allowed to apply only one logical law, possibly in several places of your
formula. It is also fine to do several steps with the same rule. The only exception to this rule
is that you may apply a De Morgan law followed immediately by the double negation law in a
single step. Indicate this with: (DeM, NN).
• Always use parentheses and associativity explicitly. For example, do not write A ∧ B ∧ C, but
write either A ∧ (B ∧ C) or (A ∧ B) ∧ C to make clear which pattern-matching you are using
when applying the logical laws.
(a) (10 points) Provide a disjunctive normal form (DNF), which is also simplified using the ACI
laws, of the sentence
((R → ¬Q) → ¬P ) ∧ R

(b) (10 points) Provide a conjunctive normal form (CNF) of the sentence

(P ∧ ¬(Q ∨ ¬R)) → (¬S → (R ∧ Q))

You do not have to simplify it using ACI laws.

7. (Bonus question, 10 points) Give a formal proof, including justifications, for the following inference.
You may only use the Reiteration rule and the Introduction and Elimination rules for the Boolean
connectives and the (bi)conditional.
¬(A → B)
B∨C
C

Page 3