The Foundations: Logic

and Proofs
Chapter 1, Part I: Propositional Logic

With Question/Answer Animations

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Propositional Logic
Section 1.1

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Propositions
A proposition is a collection of declarative sentence that is
either true or false.
Examples of propositions:
a) Doha is the capital of Qatar.
b) Alexandria is the capital of Egypt.
c) 1 + 0 = 1
d) 0 + 0 = 2
Examples that are not propositions.
a) Sit down!
b) What time is it?
c) x + 1 = 2
d) x + y = z 3
Propositional Logic
Constructing Propositions
Propositional Variables: p, q, r, s, …
The proposition that is always true is denoted by T and
the proposition that is always false is denoted by F.
Compound Propositions; constructed from logical
connectives and other propositions
 Negation ¬
 Conjunction ∧
 Disjunction ∨

 Implication →
 Biconditional ↔
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Compound Propositions: Negation
The negation of a proposition p is denoted by ¬p
and has this truth table:
p ¬p
T F
F T

Example: If p denotes “The earth is round.”, then

¬p denotes “it is not the case that I have an android
smartphone”, which means more simply: “I don’t
have an android smartphone.”
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Conjunction
The conjunction of propositions p and q is denoted by p ∧ q .
It’s true when both p and q are true and is false otherwise and
has this truth table:
p q p∧q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F F

Example: If p denotes “I am at home.” and q denotes “It is

raining.” then p ∧q denotes “I am at home and it is raining.” 6
Conjunction
Example
If p denotes “Discrete Math is easy.”

and q denotes “Ali is hard worker.”

then p ∧q denotes “Discrete Math is easy and Ali is hard

worker.”

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Disjunction
The disjunction of propositions p and q is denoted by p
∨q.
It’s false when both p and q are false and is true otherwise
and has this truth table:
p q p ∨q
T T T
T F T
F T T
F F F

Example: If p denotes “I am at home.” and q denotes “It is

raining.” then p ∨q denotes “I am at home or it is raining.” 8
Disjunction
Example
If p denotes “Discrete Math is easy.”

and q denotes “Ali is hard worker.”

then p ∨q denotes “Discrete Math is easy or Ali is hard

worker.”

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The Connective Or in English
In English “or” has two distinct meanings.
“Inclusive Or” - In the sentence “Students who have
taken CS202 or Math120 may take this class,” we assume
that students need to have taken one of the
prerequisites, but may have taken both. This is the
meaning of disjunction. For p ∨q to be true, either one
or both of p and q must be true.
“Exclusive Or” - When reading the sentence “Soup or
salad comes with this entrée,” we do not expect to be
able to get both soup and salad. This is the meaning of
Exclusive Or (Xor). In p ⊕ q , one of p and q must be
true, but not both.
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The Exclusive Or
The Exclusive Or of propositions p and q is denoted by p ⊕q
It’s true when exactly one of p and q is true and is false
otherwise.
“Tea or Coffee?”
The truth table for ⊕ is:
p q p ⊕q
T T F
T F T
F T T
F F F
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Implication
 If p and q are propositions, then p →q is a conditional statement
or implication which is read as “if p, then q ” or “p implies q”.
 It is false when p is true and q is false, and true otherwise it has
this truth table: p q p →q
T T T
T F F
F T T
F F T

 Example: If p denotes “I am at home.” and q denotes “It is

raining.” then p →q denotes “If I am at home then it is raining.”
 In p →q , p is the hypothesis (antecedent or premise) and q is
the conclusion (or consequence). 12
Understanding Implication
Think of an obligation as a contract
If I become the manager, then salaries will be raised.

If you wake up early, then you will be on time.

If you get 100% in the final exam, then you get an A.
If we win, then we will qualify to the World Cup.

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Understanding Implication
In p →q , p is the hypothesis (antecedent or
premise) and q is the conclusion (or consequence)
There does not need to be any connection between the
antecedent or the consequent. The “meaning” of p →q
depends only on the truth values of p and q.
These implications are perfectly fine, but would not be
used in ordinary English.
“If the moon is made of green cheese, then I have more
money than Bill Gates. ”
 “If the moon is made of green cheese then I’m on welfare.”
“If 1 + 1 = 3, then your grandma wears combat boots.”
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Understanding Implication (cont)
One way to view the logical conditional is to think of an
obligation or contract.
“If I am elected, then I will lower taxes.”
“If you get 100% on the final, then you will get an A.”
If the politician is elected and does not lower taxes, then
the voters can say that he or she has broken the campaign
pledge. Something similar holds for the professor. This
corresponds to the case where p is true and q is false.

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Different Ways of Expressing p →q
If p, then q
p implies q
q follows from p
q whenever p
a sufficient condition for q is p (p is sufficient for q)
a necessary condition for p is q (q is necessary for p)
p only if q

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Converse, Contrapositive, and Inverse
From p →q we can form new conditional statements .
 q →p is the converse of p →q
 ¬q → ¬ p is the contrapositive of p →q
¬ p → ¬ q is the inverse of p →q

Example: Find the converse, inverse, and contrapositive of “It

raining is a sufficient condition for my not going to town.”
Solution:
converse: If I do not go to town, then it is raining.
inverse: If it is not raining, then I will go to town.
contrapositive: If I go to town, then it is not raining.
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Biconditional
If p and q are propositions, then the biconditional
proposition p ↔q , read as “p if and only if q .”
It’s true when p and q have the same truth values, and is false
otherwise. The biconditional p ↔q denotes the proposition
with this truth table:
p q p ↔q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F T

 If p denotes “I am at home.” and q denotes “It is raining.”

then p ↔q denotes “I am at home if and only if it is raining.”
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Expressing the Biconditional
Some alternative ways “p if and only if q” is expressed
in English:

 p is necessary and sufficient for q

 if p then q , and conversely
 p iff q

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Truth Tables For Compound Propositions
Construction of a truth table:
Rows
 One for every possible combination of values for the atomic
propositions.
Columns
One for each atomic propositions (on the left)
One for the compound propositions on (the right)
If needed, intermediate steps in-between.

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Example Truth Table
Construct a truth table for
p q r r pq p  q → r
T T T F
T T F T
T F T F
T F F T
F T T F
F T F T
F F T F
F F F T

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Example Truth Table
Construct a truth table for
p q r r pq p  q → r
T T T F T
T T F T T
T F T F T
T F F T T
F T T F T
F T F T T
F F T F F
F F F T F

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Example Truth Table
Construct a truth table for
p q r r pq p  q → r
T T T F T F
T T F T T T
T F T F T F
T F F T T T
F T T F T F
F T F T T T
F F T F F T
F F F T F T

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Equivalent Propositions
Two propositions are equivalent if they always have
the same truth value.
Example: Show using a truth table that the
implication is equivalent to the contrapositive.
Solution:
p q ¬p ¬q p →q ¬q → ¬ p
T T F F T T

T F F T F F

F T T F T T

F F T T T T

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Using a Truth Table to Show Non-
Equivalence
Example: Show using truth tables that neither the
converse nor inverse of an implication are equivalent to
the implication.
Solution:
p q ¬p ¬q p →q ¬p→¬q q→p

T T F F T T T

T F F T F T T

F T T F T F F

F F T T F T T

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Problem
How many rows are there in a truth table with n
propositional variables?

Solution: 2n We will see how to do this in Chapter 6.

Note that this means that with n propositional

variables, we can construct 2n distinct (i.e., not
equivalent) propositions.

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Precedence of Logical Operators
Operator Precedence
 1
 2
3

 4
5

p q  r is equivalent to (p q)  r
If the intended meaning is p (q  r )
then parentheses must be used.
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Logic and Bit Operations
A bit is a symbol with two possible values, namely, 0
(zero) and 1 (one). bit comes from binary digit, because
zeros and ones are the digits used in binary Truth Value Bit
representations of numbers. T 1
F 0
Example:
Find the bitwise OR, bitwise AND, and bitwise XOR of the bit
strings 01 1011 0110 and 11 0001 1101.
Solution:
01 1011 0110
11 0001 1101
11 1011 1111 == bitwise OR
01 0001 0100 == bitwise AND
10 1010 1011 == bitwise XOR 28
 Applications of
Propositional Logic
Section 1.2

Page 37
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Applications of Propositional Logic:
Summary
Translating English to Propositional Logic
System Specifications
Boolean Searching
Logic Puzzles
Logic Circuits

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Translating English Sentences
Steps to convert an English sentence to a statement in
propositional logic
Identify atomic propositions and represent using
propositional variables.
Determine appropriate logical connectives
“If I go to Harry’s or to the country, I will not go
shopping.”
p: I go to Harry’s If p or q then not r.
q: I go to the country.
r: I will go shopping.

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Translating English Sentences Cont.
Example: “You can access the Internet from campus only if
you are a computer science major or you are not a
freshman.”
Solution:
Use propositional variables to represent each sentence
part and determine the appropriate logical connectives
between them.
Let a, c, and f represent “You can access the Internet
from campus,” “You are a computer science major,” and
“You are not a freshman,” respectively.
This sentence can be represented as: a → (c ¬f ). 32
System Specifications
System and Software engineers take requirements in
English and express them in a precise specification
language based on logic.
Example: Express in propositional logic:
“The automated reply cannot be sent when the file
system is full”
Solution: One possible solution: Let p denote “The
automated reply can be sent” and q denote “The file
system is full.”
q→ ¬ p
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Consistent System Specifications
Definition: A list of propositions is consistent if it is possible to
assign truth values to the proposition variables so that each
proposition is true.

Exercise: Are these specifications consistent?

 “The diagnostic message is stored in the buffer or it is retransmitted.”
 “The diagnostic message is not stored in the buffer.”
 “If the diagnostic message is stored in the buffer, then it is retransmitted.”
Solution: Let p denote “The diagnostic message is not stored in the buffer.” Let q
denote “The diagnostic message is retransmitted” The specification can be
written as: p ∨ q, ¬p, p→ q,. When p is false and q is true all three statements
are true. So the specification is consistent.
 What if “The diagnostic message is not retransmitted” is added.
Solution: Now we are adding ¬q (false) and there is no satisfying assignment. So
the specification is not consistent. 34
Boolean Search
Web Search
Boolean Operators

 “NEW AND MEXICO AND UNIVERSITIES”

 “(NEW AND MEXICO OR ARIZONA) AND UNIVERSITIES”
 “(MEXICO AND UNIVERSITIES) NOT NEW”

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 Raymond
Logic Puzzles Smullyan
(Born 1919)
 Puzzles that can be solved using logical reasoning
 An island has two kinds of inhabitants, knights, who always tell the truth,
and knaves, who always lie.
 You go to the island and meet two people A and B.
 A says “B is a knight.”
 B says “The two of us are of opposite types.”
Example: What are the types of A and B?
Solution: Let p and q be the statements that A is a knight and B is a
knight, respectively. So, then p represents the proposition that A is a
knave and q that B is a knave.
 If A is a knight, then p is true. Since knights tell the truth, q must also be
true. Then (p ∧  q)∨ ( p ∧ q) would have to be true, but it is not. So, A is not
a knight and therefore p must be true.
 If A is a knave, then B must not be a knight since knaves always lie. So, then
both p and q hold since both are knaves. 36
Logic Circuits
(Studied in depth in Chapter 12)
 Electronic circuits; each input/output signal can be viewed as a 0 or 1.
 0 represents False & 1 represents True
 Complicated circuits are constructed from three basic circuits called gates.

 The inverter (NOT gate)takes an input bit and produces the negation of that bit.
 The OR gate takes two input bits and produces the value equivalent to the disjunction of
the two bits.
 The AND gate takes two input bits and produces the value equivalent to the conjunction
of the two bits.
 More complicated digital circuits can be constructed by combining these basic
circuits to produce the desired output given the input signals by building a circuit
for each piece of the output expression and then combining them. For example:

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Logic Circuits
(Studied in depth in Chapter 12)
Example: Determine the output for the combinatorial
circuit in the following Figure.

Solution:
We see that the AND gate takes input of p and ¬q, the
output of the inverter with input q, and produces p ¬q.
Next, we note that the OR gate takes input p ¬q and ¬r,
the output of the inverter with input r, and produces the
final output (p ¬q)¬r
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Propositional
Equivalences
Section 1.3

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Tautologies, Contradictions, and
Contingencies
A tautology is a proposition which is always true.
Example: p ∨¬p
A contradiction is a proposition which is always false.
Example: p ∧¬p
A contingency is a proposition which is neither a
tautology nor a contradiction, such as p
P ¬p p ∨¬p p ∧¬p
T F T F
F T T F

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Logically Equivalent
Two compound propositions p and q are logically equivalent if
p↔q is a tautology.
We write this as p⇔q or as p≡q denote p and q are equivalent,
where p and q are compound propositions.
Two compound propositions p and q are equivalent if and only
if the columns in a truth table giving their truth values agree.
This truth table show ¬p ∨ q is equivalent to p → q.
p q ¬p ¬p ∨ q p→q
T T F T T
T F F F F
F T T T T
F F T T T
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De Morgan’s Laws
Example: Show that ¬(p ∨ q) and ¬p ∧¬q are
logically equivalent
Augustus De Morgan
1806-1871

Solution: This truth table shows that De Morgan’s Second Law holds.
p q ¬p ¬q (p∨q) ¬(p∨q) ¬p∧¬q
T T F F T F F
T F F T T F F
F T T F T F F
F F T T F T T
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De Morgan’s Laws
Example: Show that p q and ¬p ∨ q are logically equivalent
Solution: This truth table shows that the compound
propositions are logically equivalent. Because the truth values
of ¬p ∨ q and p q agree.
p q ¬p ¬p ∨ q pq
T T F T T
T F F F F
F T T T T
F F T T T
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Key Logical Equivalences
Identity Laws: ,

Domination Laws: ,

Idempotent laws: ,

Double Negation Law:

Negation Laws: ,
Implication equivalence: p →q ≡ q ∨ ¬p
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Key Logical Equivalences (cont)
Commutative Laws: ,

Associative Laws:

Distributive Laws:

Absorption Laws:

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Defining Operators via Equivalences
Using equivalences, we can define operators in terms of
other operators.

Exclusive or: p  q  (p  q)  (p  q)

p  q  (p  q)  (q  p)

Biconditional: p  q  (p  q)  (q  p)
p  q  (p  q)

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Equivalence Proofs
To prove logical equivalences:
 Truth tables
 Known logical identities

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More Logical Equivalences

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Equivalence Proofs
Example: Show that
is logically equivalent to
Solution:

Consequently ¬(p ∨ (¬p ∧ q)) and ¬p ∧ ¬q are logically equivalent. 49

Equivalence Proofs
Example: Show that
is a tautology.
Solution:

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Propositional Satisfiability
A compound proposition is satisfiable if there is an
assignment of truth values to its variables that make
it true.
When no such assignments of truth values to its
variables that make it true, the compound
proposition is unsatisfiable.
A compound proposition is unsatisfiable if and only
if its negation is a tautology.

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Questions on Propositional Satisfiability
Example: Determine the satisfiability of the following compound
propositions:

Solution: Satisfiable. Assign T to p, q, and r.

Solution: Satisfiable. Assign T to p and F to q.

Solution: Not satisfiable. Check each possible assignment of truth

values to the propositional variables and none will make the
proposition true.
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