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Freshman Mathimatics Unit 1 Part 3 (Autosaved)

This document discusses tautologies and contradictions in propositional logic. It defines a tautology as a compound proposition that is always true regardless of the truth values of its components, while a contradiction is always false. Truth tables are used to determine the truth values of compound propositions with 2 or more components. An example problem demonstrates how to use a truth table to evaluate a compound proposition when given the truth values of its components. The document also defines when two compound propositions are considered equivalent.

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218 views6 pages

Freshman Mathimatics Unit 1 Part 3 (Autosaved)

This document discusses tautologies and contradictions in propositional logic. It defines a tautology as a compound proposition that is always true regardless of the truth values of its components, while a contradiction is always false. Truth tables are used to determine the truth values of compound propositions with 2 or more components. An example problem demonstrates how to use a truth table to evaluate a compound proposition when given the truth values of its components. The document also defines when two compound propositions are considered equivalent.

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future tube
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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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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Unit 1: Propositional Logic and

Set Theory

Part 3

• Tautology and Contradiction


Tautology and Contradiction
Definition:
 A compound proposition is a tautology if it is always true regardless of the truth values of its
component propositions. If, on the other hand, a compound proposition is always false regardless of
its component propositions, we say that such a proposition is a contradiction.

p q p q
T T T T T T F T
T T F T
T F T T T F F T
T F F T
F T F T F T F T
F T F T
F F T T F F T T
F F T T
 A truth table involving “2” propositions p and q has 2n=22=4 possible truth
value combinations
 A truth table involving “3” propositions p,q, and r has 2n=23=8 possible truth
value combinations Sn p q r
Sn p q 1 T T T
1 T T 2 T T F

2 3 T F T
T F
2 =4
2
4 T F F
3 T
F
23=8 5 F T T
4
F F
6 F T F
7 F F T
8 F F F
Example:

1.   Suppose p and r are T and q and s are F. What is the truth value of ?
 First let’s do it all for exercise purpose.

p q r s rs t z
T T T T T T T T T T

T F F T F T T T
T F
F T
F
F
F T F F T T T F
F T
T T
F
T
F F F F F F T F
F F
F F
T

 Since p is true and q is false, is false. (: F)


 Since r is true and s is false, is true. ()
 Thus by applying the rule of implication, we get that F T
 F T is true.
Remark:

  When dealing with compound propositions, we shall adopt the following
convention on the use of parenthesis.
 Whenever “” or “” occur with “” or “ ”, we shall assume that “” or “” is
applied first, and then “” or “ ” is then applied.
Definition: Equivalent Compound Propositions

  Two compound propositions P and Q are said to be equivalent if they have the
same truth value for all possible combinations of truth values for the component
propositions occurring in both P and Q
 In this case we write P Q (Last two Columns are identical) / Otherwise P Q
Example: Let P: p q and Q: q p

p q p P qQp
T T F F T   T
T F F T F Hence F
F T T F T PQ T
F F T T T T

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