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Tassos Dimitriou

CpE-203
Discrete Structures

Set 2
Prof. Tassos Dimitriou

Computer Engineering Department

Kuwait University

CpE-203: Discrete Structures 1

Tassos Dimitriou

Outline
Rules on Inference
Valid Arguments
Proof techniques

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Rules of inference
Proofs: valid arguments that establish the truth of
mathematical statements
 Argument: a sequence of statements that end with a conclusion
 All but the final proposition are called premises.
 The final proposition is called conclusion.

An argument is valid if the truth of all premises implies that the

conclusion is true.
To deduce new statements from statements we already have,
we use rules of inference
 Like templates for constructing valid arguments.

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Valid Arguments
Assume you are given the following two statements:
 “If you have a current password, then you can log onto the
network”
 “You have a current password”
 Therefore, “You can log onto the network”

pq
p
 q

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Modus Ponens (mode that affirms)

Consider (p  (p→q)) → q

p q p→q p(p→q)) (p(p→q)) → q

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

p
pq
q
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Modus Ponens example

Assume you are given the following two statements:
 “It is snowing today”
 “If it snows today, then we will go skiing”

Let p = “It is snowing today”

Let q = “we will go skiing”

Then, by modus ponens, it follows that the conclusion of the

conditional statement, “We will go skiing,” is true.

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Modus Ponens example (cont.)

Determine whether the argument given here is valid and
determine whether its conclusion must be true because of the
validity of the argument.

This argument is valid because it is constructed by using

modus ponens, a valid argument form.
 However, one of its premises, 2 > 3/2 , is false.
 Consequently, we cannot conclude that the conclusion is true.
(Also note that the conclusion is false)

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Modus Tollens
Assume that we know: ¬q and p → q
 Recall that p → q  ¬q → ¬p
Thus, we know ¬q and ¬q → ¬p
We can conclude ¬p

q
pq
p

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Modus Tollens example

Assume you are given the following two statements:
 “We will not go skiing”
 “If it snows today, then we will go skiing”

Let p = “It is snowing today”

Let q = “we will go skiing”

Then, by modus tollens, it follows that the conclusion of the

conditional statement, “It does not snow today,” is true.

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Addition & Simplification

Addition: If you know that p is true, then p  q will ALWAYS
be true
p
pq

Simplification: If p  q is true, then p will ALWAYS be true

pq
  p

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Example Proof
We have the hypotheses:
 “It is not sunny this afternoon and it is colder than yesterday”
 “We will go swimming only if it is sunny”
 “If we do not go swimming, then we will take a canoe trip”
 “If we take a canoe trip, then we will be home by sunset”
Does this imply that “we will be home by sunset”?
 When
 p = “It is sunny this afternoon”
 q = “it is colder than yesterday”
 r = “We will go swimming”
 s = “we will take a canoe trip”
 t = “we will be home by sunset”

(( p  q)  (r  p)  ( r  s)  (s  t))  t ???

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Example of proof
1. ¬p  q 1st hypothesis
2. ¬p Simplification using step 1
3. r→p 2nd hypothesis
4. ¬r Modus tollens using steps 2 & 3
5. ¬r → s 3rd hypothesis
6. s Modus ponens using steps 4 & 5
7. s→t 4th hypothesis
8. t Modus ponens using steps 6 & 7

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More Rules of Inference

Conjunction: if p and q are true separately, then pq is true

Disjunctive syllogism: If pq is true, and p is false, then q

must be true

Resolution: If pq is true, and ¬pr is true, then qr must

be true

Hypothetical syllogism: If p→q is true, and q→r is true,

then p→r must be true

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Summary: Rules of Inference

p q
Modus
pq Modus tollens pq
ponens
q p
pq pq
Hypothetical Disjunctive
qr p
syllogism syllogism
pr q

p pq
Addition Simplification
pq p

p pq
Conjunction q Resolution  p  r
pq qr
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Example Proof
“If it does not rain or if it is not foggy, then the sailing race will
be held and the lifesaving demonstration will go on”
( r   f)  (s  d)
“If the sailing race is held, then the trophy will be awarded”
st
“The trophy was not awarded”
t

Can you conclude: “It rained”?

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Example of proof
1. ¬t 3rd hypothesis
2. s→t 2nd hypothesis
3. ¬s Modus tollens using steps 2 & 3
4. (¬r¬f)→(sd) 1st hypothesis
5. ¬(sd)→¬(¬r¬f) Contrapositive of step 4
6. (¬s¬d)→(rf) DeMorgan’s law and double negation law
7. ¬s¬d Addition from step 3
8. rf Modus ponens using steps 6 & 7
9. r Simplification using step 8

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Fallacies
Fallacies resemble rules of inference but are wrong.
 Example 1: If you do every problem in this book, then you will
learn discrete mathematics. You learned discrete mathematics.
Therefore, you did every problem in this book.
 ((p → q) ∧ q) → p is not a tautology.
 Called the fallacy of affirming the conclusion

 Example 2: If you do every problem in this book, then you will

learn discrete mathematics. You didn’t do every problem in the
book. Therefore, you did not learn mathematics.
 ((p → q) ∧ ￢p)→￢q is not a tautology.
 Called the fallacy of denying the hypothesis

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Rules of inference for the

Universal quantifier
Assume that we know that x P(x) is true
 Then we can conclude that P(c) is true
 Here c stands for some specific constant
 This is called “universal instantiation”

Assume that we know that P(c) is true for any value of c

 Then we can conclude that x P(x) is true
 This is called “universal generalization”

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Rules of inference for the existential

quantifier
Assume that we know that x P(x) is true
 Then we can conclude that P(c) is true for some value of c
 This is called “existential instantiation”

Assume that we know that P(c) is true for some value of c

 Then we can conclude that x P(x) is true
 This is called “existential generalization”

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Example of proof
Given the hypotheses:
 “Linda, a student in this class, owns a red
convertible.” C(Linda)
R(Linda)
 “Everybody who owns a red convertible has
gotten at least one speeding ticket”
x (R(x)→T(x))
Can you conclude: “Somebody in this class
x (C(x)T(x))
has gotten a speeding ticket”?

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Proofs

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Terminology
Theorem: a statement that can be shown true. Sometimes
called facts.
 Proposition: less important theorem
Proof: Demonstration that a theorem is true.
Axiom: A statement that is assumed to be true.
Lemma: a less important theorem that is useful to prove a
theorem.
Corollary: a theorem that can be proven directly from a
theorem that has been proved.
Conjecture: a statement that is being proposed to be a true
statement.

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Direct proofs
Consider an implication: p→q
 If p is false, then the implication is always true
 To perform a direct proof, assume that p is true, and show that q
must therefore be true

Show that the square of an even number is an even number

 Rephrased: if n is even, then n2 is even

(Direct Proof) Assume n is even

Thus, n = 2k, for some k (definition of even numbers)
n2 = (2k)2 = 4k2 = 2(2k2)
As n2 is 2 times an integer, n2 is thus even

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Indirect proofs
Consider an implication: p→q
 It’s contrapositive is ¬q→¬p

This means that the conditional statement p → q can be

proved by showing that its contrapositive, ￢q →￢p, is true.
 In a proof by contraposition of p → q, we take ￢q as a premise,
and using axioms, definitions, and previously proven theorems,
together with rules of inference, we show that ￢p must follow

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Indirect proof example

Prove that if n ≤ ab, where a and b are positive integers,
then a ≤√n or b ≤√n.

What is the contrapositive? Can you prove it?

When do you use a direct proof versus an indirect proof?

 First evaluate whether a direct proof looks promising. Begin by
expanding the definitions in the hypotheses. Start to reason using
these hypotheses, together with axioms and available theorems.
 If a direct proof does not seem to go anywhere, try the same
thing with a proof by contraposition.

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Choosing between the two

 Assume n is even, and show that n2 is even

 n=2k for some integer k (definition of even numbers)
 n2 = (2k)2 = 4k2 = 2(2k2)
 As 2(2k2) is 2 times an integer, it is even

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Proof by contradiction
Given a statement p, assume it is false (i.e. assume ¬p)

 Prove that ¬p cannot occur by arriving at some contradiction.

 Therefore, p must be true.

Because a proof by contradiction does not prove a result

directly, it is another type of indirect proof
Other form: assume both p and ¬q are true. Then arrive at
contradiction: [(p → q)  ¬q]→¬p is a tautology

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Proof by contradiction example 1

Prove that for an integer n, if n2 is even, then n is even.

Assume conclusion is false that is n is odd. Since n is odd, we

can write n=2k+1. Taking square of both sides
 n2=2(2k2+2k)+1=2m+1 implies n2 is odd, which contradicts the hypothesis
that n2 is even.

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Proofs of equivalences
This is showing the definition of a bi-conditional

Given a statement of the form “p if and only if q”

 Show it is true by showing (p→q)(q→p) is true
 This boils down to showing that p  q and q  p are both
true

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Proofs of equivalence example

Show that m2=n2 if and only if m=n or m=-n
Rephrased: (m2=n2) ↔ [(m=n)(m=-n)]
 [(m=n)(m=-n)] → (m2=n2)
 Proof by cases!
 Case 1: (m=n) → (m2=n2)
 (m)2 = m2, and (n)2 = n2, so this case is proven
 Case 2: (m=-n) → (m2=n2)
 (m)2 = m2, and (-n)2 = n2, so this case is proven
 (m2=n2) → [(m=n)(m=-n)]
 Subtract n2 from both sides to get m2-n2=0
 Factor to get (m+n)(m-n) = 0
 Since that equals zero, one of the factors must be zero
 Thus, either m+n=0 (which means m=-n)
 Or m-n=0 (which means m=n)
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Mistakes in proofs
Many mistakes result from the introduction of steps that
do not logically follow from those that precede it.
 What’s wrong with the following “proof” that 1 = 2? Let a, b be
two equal positive integers:

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Another example
What is wrong with this “proof?”
 “Theorem:” If n2 is positive, then n is positive.

“Proof:" Suppose that n2 is positive. Because the conditional

statement “If n is positive, then n2 is positive” is true, we can
conclude that n is positive.

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Counterexamples
Given a universally quantified statement, find a single
example which it is not true

Note that this is DISPROVING a UNIVERSAL statement by a

counterexample

x ¬R(x), where R(x) means “x has red hair”

 Find one person (in the domain) who has red hair

Every positive integer is the square of another integer

 The square root of 2 is2, which is not an integer…

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