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Lesson 7

This lesson covers logical equivalences and implications in propositional logic, teaching students to identify logically equivalent propositions and describe logical implications using truth tables. It provides examples to illustrate logical equivalence and implications, including the use of biconditional statements. Self-assessment exercises are included for practice on logical equivalence and implications.

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4 views3 pages

Lesson 7

This lesson covers logical equivalences and implications in propositional logic, teaching students to identify logically equivalent propositions and describe logical implications using truth tables. It provides examples to illustrate logical equivalence and implications, including the use of biconditional statements. Self-assessment exercises are included for practice on logical equivalence and implications.

Uploaded by

neyaxi9251
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Degree of Bachelor of Information Technology 1

Lesson 7 - Logical Equivalence and Logical


Implication

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to;

• identify logically equivalent propositions.

• describe logical implications.

• use truth tables to determine logically equivalence propositions.

7.1 Logical Equivalences


Let P and Q be two statements made up from the propositions p, q, r, . . . . If the truth value of
P is the same as the truth value of Q for every combination of truth values of p, q, r, . . . then
P and Q are said to be logically equivalent, and write

P ≡ Q.

In other words P and Q are logically equivalent if the final columns of their truth tables are
the same.

Example 7.1
Show that the negation of p → q is logically equivalent to p ∧ ¬q.

Solution.
Consider the below truth table for P ≡ ¬(p → q) and Q ≡ p ∧ ¬q.

Comparing the columns of truth table for ¬(p → q) and for p ∧ ¬q we note that the
truth values are same for each row of the table. Thus ¬(p → q) and p ∧ ¬q are logically
equivalent.

Remark 7.1. If the biconditional statement P ↔ Q is a tautology, then it is called as an


equivalence and it is denoted by P ⇔ Q. It is read as “P is equivalent to Q”.

1
2 ITE 1812 - Mathematic for IT

Example 7.2

Verify that the following two propositions, (a) and (b), are logically equivalent.

(a) If I go to the university then, if I study a lot, I’ll be a graduate.

(b) If I go to the university and I study a lot then I’ll be a graduate.

Solution.
We can define the following three propositions.

p : I go to the university.
q : I study a lot.
r : I0 ll be a graduate.

We want to show that p → (q → r) and (p ∧ q) → r are logically equivalent.

Comparing the columns for p → (q → r) and for (p ∧ q) → r we note that the truth
values are same for each raw. Therefore, p → (q → r) and (p ∧ q) → r are logically
equivalent.

7.2 Logical Implication


Let P and Q be two statements, compound or simple. If the conditional statement P → Q is
a tautology, it is called an implication and is denoted by P ⇒ Q.

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Degree of Bachelor of Information Technology 3

Example 7.3

Show that (p ∧ q) ⇒ (q ∧ p).

Solution.
To prove (p ∧ q) ⇒ (q ∧ p) we have to show that (p ∧ q) → (q ∧ p) is a tautology.

According to the above truth table only truth value ‘T’ occurs in the last column. There-
fore, (p ∧ q) → (q ∧ p) is a tautology.

Self-Assessment Exercises
1. Show that each of the following compound propositions are logically equivalent.

(a) p  q ≡ ¬q  ¬p
(b) ¬(p  q) ≡ p ∧ (¬q)
(c) (p ↔ ¬q) ≡ (q ↔ ¬p)
(d) p → q ≡ ¬p ∨ q

2. Prove the following.

(a) p ⇒ (q → p)
(b) [(p ∨ q) ∧ ¬q] ⇒ p
(c) (p ∧ q) ⇒ p
(d) p ∧ (p → q) ⇒ q

Suggested Reading
Chapter 1: Kenneth Rosen, (2011) Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications, 7th Edition,
McGraw-Hill Education.

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