Discrete Mathematics Unit 1 - Important Questions and

Solutions
Q1. State De Morgan's Laws
April/May-23(R16), JNTU-H, Q3(a), M[3]

Answer:

De Morgan's Laws describe how negations distribute over conjunctions and disjunctions:

¬(p ∧ q) = ¬p ∨ ¬q

¬(p ∨ q) = ¬p ∧ ¬q

Q2. Define the conjunction and give its truth table

Dec.-24/Jan.-25R(22), JNTU-H, Q1(a), M[1]

Answer:

Definition of Conjunction:

Conjunction is a logical connective that combines two statements and results in true only if both
statements are true. It is represented by the symbol ∧ (AND). If p and q are two statements, then their
conjunction is written as p ∧ q.

Truth Table for Conjunction:

Thus, p ∧ q is true only when both p and q are true; otherwise, it is false.

Q3. Define the negation and give its truth table

July/Aug.-24R(22), JNTU-H, Q1(a), M[1]

Answer:

Truth Table for ¬(−p):

Negation is a logical operation that reverses the truth value of a proposition. Applying double negation
means the original truth value is restored.

Thus, ¬(−p) = p, which means applying double negation has no effect on the original statement.

Q4. The converse of a statement is given below. Write the inverse and
contrapositive statements. "If he is considerate of others, then a man is a
gentleman"
July/Aug.-24(R22), JNTU-H, Q1(b), M[1]

Answer:

Given Converse Statement is: "If he is considerate of others, then a man is a gentleman."

Inverse Statement: If he is not considerate of others, then a man is not a gentleman.

Contrapositive Statement: If a man is not a gentleman, then he is not considerate of others.

Q5. Prove that ¬(P ∧ Q) ≡ (¬P ∨ ¬Q)

April/May-23R(16), JNTU-H, Q1(b), M[3]

Answer:

Truth Table:

From the truth table, we observe that the columns for ¬(P ∧ Q) and (¬P ∨ ¬Q) have identical truth values
for all possible values of P and Q.

Conclusion: Since both expressions always yield the same truth values, we conclude that ¬(P ∧ Q) is
logically equivalent to (¬P ∨ ¬Q). This is also known as De Morgan's Theorem.

Q6. Explain the quantifiers in predicate calculus

Dec.-24/Jan.-25R(22), JNTU-H, Q1(b), M[1]

Answer:

Quantifiers in Predicate Calculus

Quantifiers are symbols used in predicate logic to specify the quantity of subjects to which a predicate
applies. There are two main types:

Universal Quantifier (∀): It denotes that a statement is true for all elements in a given domain.
Notation: ∀x P(x) means "for all x, P(x) is true." Example: "All humans are mortal" → ∀x (Human(x) →
Mortal(x))

Existential Quantifier (∃): It signifies that there exists at least one element in the domain for which the
predicate is true. Notation: ∃x P(x) means "there exists at least one x for which P(x) is true." Example:
"Some students passed the exam" → ∃x (Student(x) ∧ Passed(x))

These quantifiers help in expressing logical statements with variables more precisely in predicate calculus.

Q7. Prove that p→(q→r)≡(p∧q)→r

Aug./Sep.-22(R16), Q1(b), JNTU-H, M[7]

Answer:

Consider L.H.S.
∴ p → (q → r) ⇔ (p ∧ q) → r

Q8. Is (p→q)→{(p→q)→q} a tautology?

March-22(R16), JNTU-H, Q1(a), M[8]

Solution:

The truth table for the above compound statement is given below.

∴ (p→q) → {(p→q) → q} is not a tautology.

Q9. Verify whether the following statement is tautology or not. {[p → (q ∨ r)]
∧ (∼ q)} → (p → r)
March-22(R16), JNTU-H, Q1(b), M[7]

Solution:

Given statement is:

{[p → (q ∨ r)] ∧ (∼ q)} → (p → r)

The statement evaluates to a tautology based on the truth table analysis.

Q10. Show that (P∨Q)∧(¬P∧(¬P∧Q))≡(¬P∧Q)

March-22(R16), JNTU-H, Q2(a), M[7]

Answer:

∴ (P ∨ Q) ∧ (¬P ∧ (¬P ∧ Q)) ≡ (¬P ∧ Q).

Q11. Find the PDNF and PCNF by constructing the truth table: (P ∧ Q) ∨ (¬P
∧ R) ∨ (Q ∧ R)
April/May-23(R16), JNTU-H, Q3(a), M[8]

Solution:

Obtain the principal disjunctive normal form of (P ∧ Q) ∨ (¬P ∧ R) ∨ (Q ∧ R).

Q12. Obtain the principal conjunctive normal form of the formula given by
(¬P→R) ∧ (Q⇔P)
July/Aug.-24(R22), JNTU-H, Q2(a), M[5]

Solution:
Given statement (¬P → R) ∧ (Q ⇔ P)

Let, S = (P ∨ Q ⇔ P) ⇒ P ∧ Q ⇔ (P → Q)

⇒ [(¬(¬P) ∨ R)] ∧ [(Q → P) ∧ (P → Q)]

⇒ [(P ∨ R)] ∧ [(¬Q ∨ P) ∧ (¬P ∨ Q)]
⇒ [(P ∨ R)] ∧ [(¬Q ∨ P)] ∧ [(¬P ∨ Q)]
⇒ (P ∨ Q ∨ R) ∧ (P ∨ ¬Q ∨ R) ∧ [(P ∨ ¬Q ∨ R) ∧ (P ∨ ¬Q ∨ ¬R)] ∧ [(¬P ∨ Q ∨ R) ∧ (¬P ∨ Q ∨ ¬R)]
[Applying Distributive law]
⇒ (P ∨ Q ∨ R) ∧ (P ∨ ¬Q ∨ R) ∧ (P ∨ ¬Q ∨ ¬R) ∧ (¬P ∨ Q ∨ R) ∧ (¬P ∨ Q ∨ ¬R)
∴ S = (P ∨ Q ∨ R) ∧ (P ∨ ¬Q ∨ R) ∧ (P ∨ ¬Q ∨ ¬R) ∧ (¬P ∨ Q ∨ R) ∧ (¬P ∨ Q ∨ ¬R)

This is the required PCNF.

Q13. Obtain the principal conjunctive normal form of (P∧Q)∨(¬PAR)

Aug./Sep.-22(R16), JNTU-H, Q2(b), M[8]

Solution:

Let, M = (P ∧ Q) ∨ (¬P ∧ R)
= (T ∧ (Q ∨ ¬P)) ∧ (P ∨ R ∨ F) ∧ (Q ∨ R ∨ F))
= (Q ∨ ¬P ∨ F) ∧ (P ∨ R ∨ (Q ∧ ¬Q)) ∧ (Q ∨ R ∨ (P ∧ ¬P))
= (Q ∨ ¬P ∨ F) ∧ (P ∨ R ∨ (Q ∧ ¬Q)) ∧ (Q ∨ R ∨ (P ∧ ¬P))

∴ The principal conjunctive normal form is (¬P ∨ Q ∨ R) ∧ (¬P ∧ Q ∨ ¬R) ∧ (P ∨ Q ∨ R) ∧ (P ∨ ¬Q ∨

R).

Q14. Define Quantifiers and types of Quantifiers with examples. Write a brief
note on universal quantifiers. (Refer only Universal Qualifiers)
Dec.-24/Jan.-25(R22), JNTU-H, Q2(b), M[5]

Answer:

Quantifiers

Quantifiers are the words like all, some, none, at least one, that indicate the quantity.

There are two types of quantifiers. They are,

1. Existential quantifier

2. Universal quantifier.

1. Existential Quantifier
It is denoted as ∃ x and refers to the word "some". It can be expressed in any of the following phrases.

(i) There is at least one x

(ii) There exist an x such that
(iii) For some x such that
(iv) Some x is such that.

2. Universal Quantifier

It is denoted as ∀ x, and refers to the word "all". It can be expressed in any of the following phrases.

(i) For all x ....

(ii) For each x ....
(iii) For every x .....
(iv) For any x .......

Universal Quantifier

It denotes that a statement is true for all elements in a given domain. Notation: ∀x P(x) means "for all x,
P(x) is true." Example: "All humans are mortal" → ∀x (Human(x) → Mortal(x))

Existential Quantifier

It signifies that there exists at least one element in the domain for which the predicate is true. Notation:
∃x P(x) means "there exists at least one x for which P(x) is true." Example: "Some students passed the
exam" → ∃x (Student(x) ∧ Passed(x))

These quantifiers help in expressing logical statements with variables more precisely in predicate calculus.

Using Multiple Quantifiers in Statements

Sometimes it may be necessary to use more than one quantifier in a statement. For example,

s(x,y) : x is intelligent than y.

Consider the statement given below.

For any x and y, if x is intelligent than y, then it is not true that y is intelligent than x.

The above statement can be symbolized as,

∀x∀y.s(x,y) →¬ s(y,x)