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Logic!

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 Logic
• Crucial for mathematical reasoning
• Important for program design
• Used for designing electronic circuitry

• (Propositional )Logic is a system based on propositions.

– A proposition is a (declarative) statement that is either true or
false (not both).
– We say that the truth value of a proposition is either true (T) or
false (F).
– Corresponds to 1 and 0 in digital circuits

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The Statement/Proposition Game

“Elephants are bigger than mice.”

Is this a statement?

Is this a proposition?

What is the truth value

of the proposition?

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 The Statement/Proposition Game

“Elephants are bigger than mice.”

Is this a statement? yes

Is this a proposition? yes

What is the truth value

of the proposition? true
The Statement/Proposition Game

“520 < 111”

Is this a statement?

Is this a proposition?

What is the truth value

of the proposition?

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 The Statement/Proposition Game

“520 < 111”

Is this a statement? yes

Is this a proposition? yes

What is the truth value

of the proposition? false

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The Statement/Proposition Game

“y > 5”

Is this a statement?
Is this a proposition?

What is the truth value

of the proposition?

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 The Statement/Proposition Game

“y > 5”

Is this a statement? yes

Is this a proposition? no

Its truth value depends on the value of y, but this value

is not specified.
We call this type of statement a propositional function
or open sentence.
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The Statement/Proposition Game

“Today is January 27 and 99 < 5.”

Is this a statement?

Is this a proposition?

What is the truth value

of the proposition?
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 The Statement/Proposition Game

“Today is January 27 and 99 < 5.”

Is this a statement? yes

Is this a proposition? yes

What is the truth value

of the proposition? false

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The Statement/Proposition Game

“Please do not fall asleep.”

Is this a statement?
It’s a request.

Is this a proposition?

Only statements can be propositions.

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 The Statement/Proposition Game

“Please do not fall asleep.”

Is this a statement? no
It’s a request.

Is this a proposition? no

Only statements can be propositions.

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The Statement/Proposition Game
“x < y if and only if y > x.”

Is this a statement?
Is this a proposition?

What is the truth value

of the proposition?

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 The Statement/Proposition Game
“x < y if and only if y > x.”
Is this a statement? yes
Is this a proposition? yes
… because its truth value does not depend
on specific values of x and y.

What is the truth value

of the proposition? true
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 Combining Propositions

As we have seen in the examples, one or more

propositions can be combined to form a single
compound proposition.

We formalize this by denoting propositions with letters

such as p, q, r, s, and introducing several logical
operators or logical connectives.

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 Logical Operators (Connectives)
We will examine the following logical operators:
• Negation (NOT, )
• Conjunction (AND, )  logical
multiplication
• Disjunction (OR, )  logical addition
• Exclusive-or (XOR,  )
• Implication (if – then,  )
• Biconditional (if and only if,  )
Truth tables can be used to show how these operators
can combine propositions to compound propositions. 16
 Negation (NOT)

Unary Operator, Symbol: 

P P
true (T) false (F)
false (F) true (T)

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 Conjunction (AND)
Binary Operator, Symbol: 
P Q P Q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F F

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 Disjunction (OR)
Binary Operator, Symbol: 
P Q PQ
T T T
T F T
F T T
F F F

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 Exclusive Or (XOR)
Binary Operator, Symbol: 
P Q PQ
T T F
T F T
F T T
F F F

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 Implication (if - then)
Binary Operator, Symbol: 
P Q PQ
T T T
T F F
F T T
F F T

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 Converse and Inverse
p  q : If Paula is here, then Quincy is here.
Converse:
− swap the hypothesis and the conclusion

q  p: If Quincy is here, then Paula is here.

Inverse:
– negate the hypothesis and negate the conclusion
~p  ~q: If Paula is not here, then Quincy is not here.

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Biconditional (if and only if)
Binary Operator, Symbol: 
P Q PQ
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F T

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 Statements and Operators
Statements and operators can be combined in any way to form new
statements.

P Q P Q (P)(Q)
T T F F F
T F F T T
F T T F T
F F T T T

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 Statements and Operations
Statements and operators can be combined in any way to form new
statements.

P Q PQ (PQ) (P)(Q)

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

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 Exercises
• To take discrete mathematics, you must have taken
calculus or a course in computer science.
• When you buy a new car from Acme Motor Company, you
get $2000 back in cash or a 2% car loan.
• School is closed if more than 2 feet of snow falls or if the
wind chill is below -100.

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 Exercises
• To take discrete mathematics, you must have taken
calculus or a course in computer science.
– P: take discrete mathematics
– Q: take calculus
– R: take a course in computer science
• PQR

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 Exercises
• When you buy a new car from Acme Motor Company, you
get $2000 back in cash or a 2% car loan.

– P: buy a car from Acme Motor Company

– Q: get $2000 cash back
– R: get a 2% car loan

• PQR
• Why use XOR here? – example of ambiguity of natural
languages

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 Exercises
• School is closed if more than 2 feet of snow falls or if the
wind chill is below -100.
– P: School is closed
– Q: 2 feet of snow falls
– R: wind chill is below -100

•QRP
• Precedence among operators:
, , , , 

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 Equivalent Statements
P Q (PQ) (P)(Q) (PQ)(P)(Q)

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

The statements (PQ) and (P)  (Q) are logically equivalent, since
they have the same truth table, or put it in another way, (PQ) (P) 
(Q) is always true.
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 Equivalence
Definition: two propositional statements S1 and S2
are said to be (logically) equivalent, denoted S1 
S2 if
– They have the same truth table, or

Equivalence can be established by

– Constructing truth tables
– Using equivalence laws

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 Equivalence
Equivalence laws
– Identity laws, P  T  P,
– Domination laws, P  F  F,
– Idempotent laws, P  P  P,
– Double negation law,  ( P)  P
– Commutative laws, P  Q  Q  P,
– Associative laws, P  (Q  R) (P  Q)  R,
– Distributive laws, P  (Q  R) (P  Q)  (P  R),
– De Morgan’s laws,  (PQ)  ( P)  ( Q)
– Law with implication PQPQ

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 Exercises
• Show that P  Q   P  Q: by truth table

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 Exercises
• Show that P  Q   P  Q: by truth table

P Q PQ P P  Q
T T T F T
T F F F F
F T T T T
F F T T T

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 Exercises
• Show that (P  Q)  (P  R)  P  (Q  R):

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 Exercises
• Show that (P  Q)  (P  R)  P  (Q  R):

P Q R PQ PR (P  Q)  QR P  (Q  R)

(P  R)
T T T T T T T T
T T F T F F F F
T F T F T F F F
T F F F F F F F
F T T T T T T T
F T F T T T F T
F F T T T T F T
F F F T T T F T

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 Propositional Functions & Predicates
Propositional function (open sentence):
statement involving one or more variables,
e.g.: x-3 > 5.
Let us call this propositional function P(x), where P is the
predicate and x is the variable.

What is the truth value of P(2) ?

What is the truth value of P(8) ?
What is the truth value of P(9) ?

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 Propositional Functions & Predicates

x-3 > 5.

What is the truth value of P(2) ? false

What is the truth value of P(8) ? false
What is the truth value of P(9) ? true

When a variable is given a value, it is said to be instantiated

Truth value depends on value of variable

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 Propositional Functions
Let us consider the propositional function Q(x, y, z) defined as:
x + y = z.
Here, Q is the predicate and x, y, and z are the variables.

What is the truth value of Q(2, 3, 5) ?

What is the truth value of Q(0, 1, 2) ?
What is the truth value of Q(9, -9, 0) ?

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 Propositional Functions
x + y = z.

What is the truth value of Q(2, 3, 5) ? true

What is the truth value of Q(0, 1, 2) ? false
What is the truth value of Q(9, -9, 0) ? true

A propositional function (predicate) becomes a proposition when

all its variables are instantiated.
 Universal Quantification
Let P(x) be a predicate (propositional function).

Universally quantified sentence:

For all x in the universe of discourse P(x) is true.

Using the universal quantifier :

x P(x) “for all x P(x)” or “for every x P(x)”

(Note: x P(x) is either true or false, so it is a proposition, not a

propositional function.)

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 Universal Quantification
Example: Let the universe of discourse be all people
S(x): x is a UMBC student.
G(x): x is a genius.
What does x (S(x)  G(x)) mean ?
“If x is a UMBC student, then x is a genius.” or
“All UMBC students are geniuses.”
If the universe of discourse is all UMBC students, then the same
statement can be written as
x G(x)

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 Existential Quantification
Existentially quantified sentence:
There exists an x in the universe of discourse for which P(x) is
true.

Using the existential quantifier :

x P(x) “There is an x such that P(x).”
“There is at least one x such that P(x).”

(Note: x P(x) is either true or false, so it is a proposition, but

no propositional function.)

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 Existential Quantification
Example:
P(x): x is a UMBC professor.
G(x): x is a genius.

What does x (P(x)  G(x)) mean ?

“There is an x such that x is a UMBC professor and x is a

genius.”
or
“At least one UMBC professor is a genius.”

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 Quantification
Another example:
Let the universe of discourse be the real numbers.

What does xy (x + y = 320) mean ?

“For every x there exists a y so that x + y = 320.”

Is it true? yes

Is it true for the natural numbers? no

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 Disproof by Counterexample
A counterexample to x P(x) is an object c so that P(c) is
false.

Statements such as x (P(x)  Q(x)) can be disproved by

simply providing a counterexample.

Statement: “All birds can fly.”

Disproved by counterexample: Penguin.

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 Negation

(x P(x)) is logically equivalent to x (P(x)).

(x P(x)) is logically equivalent to x (P(x)).

This is de Morgan’s law for quantifiers

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 Negation
Examples
Not all roses are red
x (Rose(x)  Red(x))
x (Rose(x)  Red(x))

Nobody is perfect
x (Person(x)  Perfect(x))
x (Person(x)  Perfect(x))

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 Nested Quantifier
A predicate can have more than one variables.
– S(x, y, z): z is the sum of x and y
– F(x, y): x and y are friends
We can quantify individual variables in different ways
– x, y, z (S(x, y, z)  (x <= z  y <= z))
– x y z (F(x, y)  F(x, z)  (y != z)  F(y, z)

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 Nested Quantifier
Exercise: translate the following English sentence into
logical expression
“There is a rational number in between every pair of
distinct rational numbers”

Use predicate Q(x), which is true when x is a rational

number
x,y (Q(x)  Q (y)  (x < y) 
u (Q(u)  (x < u)  (u < y)))

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 Summary
• Propositional functions (predicates)
• Universal and existential quantifiers, and the
duality of the two
• When predicates become propositions
– All of its variables are instantiated
– All of its variables are quantified
• Nested quantifiers
– Quantifiers with negation
• Logical expressions formed by predicates,
operators, and quantifiers
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