Propositional logic in Artificial intelligence
Propositional logic (PL) is the simplest form of logic where all the statements are made by propositions.
A proposition is a declarative statement which is either true or false.
It is a technique of knowledge representation in logical and mathematical form.
Example:
1. a) It is Sunday.
2. b) The Sun rises from West (False proposition)
3. c) 3+3= 7(False proposition)
4. d) 5 is a prime number.
Syntax of propositional logic:
The syntax of propositional logic defines the allowable sentences for the knowledge representation. There
Atomic Proposition
o Atomic Proposition: Atomic propositions are the simple propositions.
o It consists of a single proposition symbol. These are the sentences which must be either true or fal
Example:
1. a) 2+2 is 4, it is an atomic proposition as it is a true fact.
2. b) "The Sun is cold" is also a proposition as it is a false fact.
Compound proposition:
Compound propositions are constructed by combining simpler or atomic propositions, using parenthesis and
Example:
1. a) "It is raining today, and street is wet."
2. b) "Ankit is a doctor, and his clinic is in Mumbai."
Logical Connectives:
Logical connectives are used to connect two simpler propositions or representing a sentence logically.
We can create compound propositions with the help of logical connectives.
There are mainly five connectives, which are given as follows:
1. Negation
2. Conjunction
Example: Rohan is intelligent and hardworking. It can be written as,
P= Rohan is intelligent,
Q= Rohan is hardworking. → P∧ Q.
3. Disjunction
Example: "Ritika is a doctor or Engineer",
Here P= Ritika is Doctor. Q= Ritika is Doctor, so we can write it as P ∨ Q.
4. Implication
If it is raining, then the street is wet.
Let P= It is raining, and Q= Street is wet, so it is represented as P → Q
5. Biconditional
example If I am breathing, then I am alive
P= I am breathing, Q= I am alive, it can be represented as P ⇔ Q.
Following is the summarized table for Propositional Logic Connectives:
Truth Table:
In propositional logic, we need to know the truth values of propositions in all possible scenarios. We can c
representation of these combinations in a tabular format is called Truth table. Following are the truth tabl
Truth table with three propositions:
We can build a proposition composing three propositions P, Q, and R. This truth table is made-up of 8n Tu
Precedence of connectives:
Just like arithmetic operators, there is a precedence order for propositional connectors or logical operators
Following is the list of the precedence order for operators:
Precedence Operators
First Precedence Parenthesis
Second Precedence Negation
Third Precedence Conjunction(AND)
Fourth Precedence Disjunction(OR)
Fifth Precedence Implication
Six Precedence Biconditional
Note: For better understanding use parenthesis to make sure of the correct interpretations. Such as ¬R∨ Q,
Properties of Operators:
o Commutativity:
o P∧ Q= Q ∧ P, or
o P ∨ Q = Q ∨ P.
o Associativity:
o (P ∧ Q) ∧ R= P ∧ (Q ∧ R),
o (P ∨ Q) ∨ R= P ∨ (Q ∨ R)
o Identity element:
o P ∧ True = P,
o P ∨ True= True.
o Distributive:
o P∧ (Q ∨ R) = (P ∧ Q) ∨ (P ∧ R).
o P ∨ (Q ∧ R) = (P ∨ Q) ∧ (P ∨ R).
o DE Morgan's Law:
o ¬ (P ∧ Q) = (¬P) ∨ (¬Q)
o ¬ (P ∨ Q) = (¬ P) ∧ (¬Q).
o Double-negation elimination:
o ¬ (¬P) = P.
Limitations of Propositional logic:
o We cannot represent relations like ALL, some, or none with propositional logic. Example:
1. All the girls are intelligent.
2. Some apples are sweet.
b. Propositional logic has limited expressive power.
c. In propositional logic, we cannot describe statements in terms of their properties or logical relation
