Propositional
Logics (II)
Course Name: Discrete Mathematics
Course Code: C1UC224T
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Can changing the order of
operations in a logical expression
change its truth value? Can you
think of an example?
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At the end of this session students will be able to
Understand and apply precedence
rules of logical operators.
Construct converse,
contrapositive, and inverse of
conditional statements.
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1 Recap: Compound Propositions
2 Precedence of Logical
Operators
Session 3 Converse, Contrapositive and
Inverse
Outline
4 Applications of Propositional
Logic
5 Wrap up and Reflection
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RECAP
Compound Propositions
logical operators notation definition
Negation p not p (the opposite of the truth value of p)
Conjunction pq p and q (T when both p and q are T and otherwise F)
Disjunction pq p or q (F when both p and q are F and otherwise T)
Exclusive or pq either p or q (T when exactly one of p and q is T and
otherwise F)
Conditional pq if p then q (F when p is T and q is F, and otherwise T)
Biconditional pq p if and only if q (T when p and q have the same truth
values, and otherwise F)
GSCALE full form and date 5
Precedence of Logical Operators
We generally use parentheses to specify the order in which logical operators in a compound
proposition are to be applied. However, to reduce the the number of parentheses, we have
the precedence levels of the logical operators:
What will be solved first?
¬p∨q∧r→s
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Learning Activity 1 (Pen-paper Activity)
Given Logical Expression:
Let’s assume and evaluate step by step:
Step 1 (Parentheses first):
Step 2 (Negation first):
Step 3 (Implication next):
Step 4 (AND operation):
Student Task:
Q1. Find and correct the mistake in the logical steps above.
Q2. Recalculate the final answer for different values of 𝑝, 𝑞, 𝑟 ( Hint: Prepare a truth
table).
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Answer 1 : The mistake in the given steps is in Step 4, where the final AND operation is evaluated
incorrectly.
Correction of the Mistake: Step 4 (AND operation) should be
Corrected final answer: F, not T.
Answer 2 :
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CONVERSE, CONTRAPOSITIVE, INVERSE
We can form some new conditional statements starting with a
conditional statement p → q
• Converse : q→p
• Contrapositive : ￢ q→ ￢ p
• Inverse : ￢ p → ￢ q
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• When two compound propositions always have
the same truth value, we call them equivalent.
• A conditional statement and its contrapositive are
equivalent.
• The converse and the inverse of a conditional
statement are also equivalent, but neither is
equivalent to the original conditional statement.
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Learning Activity 2
(Group-activity)
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Applications of Propositional Logic
•Digital Circuit Design – Used in logic gates (AND, OR, NOT) for designing processors and memory
units.
•Artificial Intelligence – Helps in knowledge representation, decision-making, and expert systems.
•Databases (SQL Queries) – Logical operators (AND, OR, NOT) filter and retrieve relevant data.
•Software Verification – Ensures program correctness using logical assertions and formal methods.
•Cryptography & Security – Used in authentication systems and encryption protocols.
•Natural Language Processing – Helps AI understand and analyze sentence structures logically.
•Law & Ethics – Logical reasoning ensures consistency in legal arguments and ethical decision-
making.
•Machine Learning – Used in decision trees and artificial neural networks for classification.
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Ensure attainment of LOs in alignment to the
learning activities:
Understand and apply precedence
rules of logical operators.
Construct converse,
contrapositive, and inverse of
conditional statements.
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Exit Ticket:
Evaluate the following expression:
(true ∨ false) ∧ true
a) true
b) false
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Next topics of the course
are
Propositional Equivalences,
Predicates and Quantifiers.
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Write one new thing you
learned today and one
question you still have.
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