Lecture 3

 Propositional logic (PL) is a technique of

knowledge representation in logical and
mathematical form
 It is the simplest form of logic where all the
statements are made by propositions.
 A proposition is a declarative statement which
is either true or false.
 Example:
a) The Sun rises from West (False proposition)
c) 3+3= 7(False proposition)
d) 5 is a prime number. (true proposition)
 Logical constants: true, false
 Propositional symbols: P, Q, S, ... (atomic
sentences)
 Sentences are combined by connectives:
 ...and [conjunction]
 ...or [disjunction]
...implies [implication / conditional]
..is equivalent [biconditional]
 ...not [negation]
 A simple language useful for showing key ideas and
definitions
 User defines a set of propositional symbols, like P and Q.
 User defines the semantics of each propositional symbol:
 P means “It is hot”
 Q means “It is humid”
 R means “It is raining”
 A sentence (well formed formula) is defined as follows:
 A symbol is a sentence
 If S is a sentence, then S is a sentence
 If S is a sentence, then (S) is a sentence
 If S and T are sentences, then (S  T), (S  T), (S  T), and (S ↔ T)
are sentences
 A sentence results from a finite number of applications of the
above rules
 Propositional logic is also called Booleanlogic as it
works on 0 and 1.
 In propositional logic, we use symbolic variables to
represent the logic, and we can use any symbol for
a representing a proposition, such A, B, C, P, Q, R,
etc.
 •Propositions can be either true or false, but it
cannot be both.
 •Propositional logic consists of an object, relations
or function, and logical connectives.
 •These connectives are also called logical
operators.
 The propositions and connectives are the basic
elements of the propositional logic.
 Connectives can be said as a logical operator which
connects two sentences.
 A proposition formula which is always true is called
tautology, and it is also called a valid sentence.
 A proposition formula which is always false is called
Contradiction.
 Statements which are questions, commands, or
opinions are not propositions such as "Where is
Ahmed", "How are you", "What is your name", are not
propositions.
 The syntax of propositional logic defines the
allowable sentences for the knowledge
representation. There are two types of
Propositions: Atomic Propositions, Compound
propositions
 Atomic Propositions: It consists of a single
proposition symbol. These are the sentences
which must be either true or false.
a) 2+2 is 4, it is an atomic proposition as it is a true fact.
b) b) "The Sun is cold" is also a proposition as it is a false
fact.
 Compound proposition: Compound
propositions are constructed by combining
simpler or atomic propositions, using
parenthesis and logical connectives.
 Example:
a) "It is raining today, andstreet is wet."
b) "Ankit is a doctor, andhis clinic is in Mumbai."
 Logical connectives are used to connect two
simpler propositions or representing a sentence
logically. We can create compound propositions
with the help of logical connectives. There are
mainly fiveconnectives, which are given as
follows:
 •Negation: A sentence such as ¬ Pis called
negation of P. A literal can be either Positive literal
or negative literal.
 •Conjunction: A sentence which has ∧connective
such as, P ∧Q is called a conjunction.
 Example: Rohan is intelligent and
hardworking. It can be written as,
 P= Rohan is intelligent,
 Q= Rohan is hardworking. → P∧Q.
 Disjunction: A sentence which has ∨connective,
such as P ∨Q. is called disjunction, where P and
Q are the propositions.
 Example: "Ritika is a doctor or Engineer",
 Here P=Ritika is Doctor. Q= Ritika is Engineer,
so we can write it as P ∨Q.
 Implication: A sentence such as P → Q, is called an
implication. Implications are also known as if-
thenrules. It can be represented as
 •If it is raining, then the street is wet.
 •Let P= It is raining, and Q= Street is wet, so it is
represented as P → Q
 •Biconditional: A sentence such as P⇔Q is a
Biconditional sentence, example If I am breathing,
then I am alive (if and only if)
 •P= I am breathing, Q= I am alive, it can be
represented as P ⇔Q.
 Summarized table for Propositional Logic
Connectives:
 In propositional logic, we need to know the
truth values of propositions in all possible
scenarios. We can combine all the possible
combination with logical connectives, and the
representation of these combinations in a
tabular format is called Truth table.
 P: you take out the trash
 Q: you will get a pound
 Example: If it is raining, then the street is wet.
 P= I am breathing, Q= I am alive. (if and only
if)
 Logical equivalence is one of the features of
propositional logic. Two propositions are said to be
logically equivalent if and only if the columns in the
truth table are identical to each other.
 Let's take two propositions A and B, so for logical
equivalence, we can write it as A⇔B. In below truth
table we can see that column for ¬A∨B and A→B, are
identical hence A is Equivalent to B
 Commutativity:
P∧Q= Q ∧P, or
P ∨Q = Q ∨P.

 •Associativity:
(P ∧Q) ∧R= P ∧(Q ∧R),
(P ∨Q) ∨R= P ∨(Q ∨R)

 Identity element:
P ∧True = P,
P ∨True= True.
 Distributive:
 P∧(Q ∨R) = (P ∧Q) ∨(P ∧R).
 P ∨(Q ∧R) = (P ∨Q) ∧(P ∨R).
 •DE Morgan's Law:

 ¬ (P ∧Q) = (¬P) ∨(¬Q)

 ¬ (P ∨Q) = (¬ P) ∧(¬Q).
 •Double-negation elimination:

 ¬ (¬P) = P.
 We cannot represent relations like ALL, some,
or none with propositional logic. Example:
 All the girls are intelligent.
 Some apples are sweet.
 •Propositional logic has limited expressive
power.
 •In propositional logic, we cannot describe
statements in terms of their properties or
logical relationships.
 1) Translate the following Propositional Logic
to English sentences.
 Let:

 E= Ali is eating

 H= Ali is hungry

(a) E → ¬H
(b) E ^ ¬H
(c) ¬(H → ¬E)