MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD

MODULE

Math Language and Symbols (Logic)

Overview

Welcome to Logic!
This module will introduce you to the fundamentals of logic. The first part of this
module begins with recognizing general and mathematical statements and eventually
making use of tables and diagrams to verify the truth values of these statements.
Also, various arguments are included in the activities and video clips which could help
you refine your logical reasoning skills. Further, this will aid you to illustrate the
importance of mathematics as a language in communicating universal ideas with
precision and conciseness.

Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this module, students should be able to:
[1] define and identify statements and logical connectives
[2] write statements and their corresponding negations symbolically
[3] construct truth tables for logical connectives, implications and compound
statements
[4] identify whether an argument is a tautology or a self-contradiction and use truth
tables to decide if an argument is valid
[5] determine logically equivalent statements and classify compound statements as
tautology or self-contradiction.
[6] define syllogism and use Euler circles to decide whether an argument is valid or
not

References:
[1] E. C. Baltazar, C. Ragasa, and J. Evangelista. “Mathematics in the Modern
World”. C & E Publishing, Inc., 2024.
[2] D. Sobecki et al. “Math in Our World, 4th Edition”. McGraw-Hill Education,
2019.
[3] Steps in Constructing a Truth Table. Retrieved from
https://dsearls.org/courses/M120Concepts/ClassNotes/Logic/130A_examples.htm
[4] Propositions and Logical Operators. Retrieved from
https://www.ics.uci.edu/~bic/courses/6B/ILTI/Lectures/1A-notes-1.pdf
[5] Lecture notes in Logic. Retrieved from
https://math.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Combinatorics_and_Discrete_Mathematics/Boo
k%3A_A_Spiral_Workbook_for_Discrete_Mathematics_(Kwong)/02%3A_Logic/2.03%3
A_Implication
 MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD
MODULE

Introductory Discussion
People have different views and outlooks
about certain things. Sometimes, we tend to agree
with the conjectures of other people that we can see
and disagree with what we don’t see. In many
cases, disagreements follow after an insufficient
presentation of evidence based on facts or being
unable to exemplify your arguments in a logical
manner. This is now where mathematical language
comes in. Uncertainties of statements are being
minimized or avoided through a series of logical
analysis.
Photo from: https://www.uckg.org/true-or-false/
Generally, statements are objectively
determined to be either true (T) or false (F).
For instance, some parents would agree that
modular learning is good but some would
not. Note that this statement is a proposition
that is either T or F but not both. What about
in your own opinion? The next activity will let
you recognize different propositions.

Activity 5.1 Statements and Logical Operators

Watch the Video (30 – 50 minutes).
Written concepts below are some basic information about logical connectives
and consequences. You may also click the links below and know more about
statements and logical operations.
(1) Mathematical Statements – link
Mathematical Statements | Mathematical Reasoning | Don't Memorise
(2) Writing Negations – link
Negation of a Statement | Don't Memorise
(3) Compound Statements – link
Logic 101 (#7) Compound Sentences
(4) Conditional Statements – link
Logic 101 (#9): Conditional (If-Then) Statements
(5) Biconditional Statements – link
​ Logic 101 (#10): Biconditional (IF AND ONLY IF)
 MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD
MODULE

Logical Connectives
The basic logical connectives are conjunction and
disjunction, which are denoted by ∧ and ∨, respectively.
The key word for conjunction is “and” and “or” is associated
with disjunction. Statements joined by these connectives
are called compound statements.

Logical Consequences
An implication or a conditional is a compound statement
following the form “if p, then q” and is denoted by
(Kwong, 2020), provided that p and q are
propositions. A complicated form of implication is called
biconditional written as (Baltazar et al.,
2024). This is logically the conjunction of two implications.

Propositions and Logical Operators

A. Proposition – a statement which is either true or

false but not both. This is considered to be the core
component of logic. A proposition is simple if it
contains a single idea.|

Example 1.1
(1) Lizards don’t lay eggs
(2) The difference of twenty and five is fifteen
(3) 1 + (-2) = 0
(4) The University of San Agustin Iloilo is not a catholic university.

B. Negation – a statement corresponding to a statement with opposite truth value.

Suppose p is a proposition, then the negation of p is “not p” or ~p. The best way to
describe the negation of a statement is to affix the word not.

Example 1.2
Statement Negation
p : The guy in a black shirt is tall. ~p : The guy in a black shirt is not tall.
q : Six divided by two is three. ~q : Six divided by two is not three.
r : Their uniforms are clean. ~r : Their uniforms are not clean.
 MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD
MODULE

Note: The negation of the statement is not necessarily the opposite of the statement.
We just deny the statement but not really getting its opposite. So in the case of q above,
“Six divided by two is four” is not the only negation of q.

C. Compound Proposition – two or more simple propositions combined by a logical

operator commonly known as connective. The basic logical connectives are conjunction
( ∧) and disjunction (∨ ).
Example 1.3
Proposition 1 Proposition 2
I love Mathematics. Learning online is fun.

Conjunction ∧ I love Mathematics and learning online is fun. p∧q

Disjunction ∨ I love Mathematics or learning online is fun. p∨q

D. Implication – Suppose p and q are propositions. The proposition (read

as “If p, then q”) is called an implication or a conditional statement. In this argument, p is
called the premise and q is called the conclusion.

Example 1.4
Premise p Conclusion q
She did not turn-in in our virtual classroom. She is absent.
Implication If she did not turn-in in our virtual
classroom, then she is absent.

E. Biconditional Statements – Suppose p and q are propositions. The biconditional of p

and q written (read as “p if and only if q”) is the conjunction of two
conditional statements. In symbols, is equivalent to the statement

Example 1.5
Premise p Conclusion q
I will pass this course. My mom will buy me a new phone.

If I pass this course, then my mom will buy me a new phone.

If my mom will buy me a new phone, then I will pass this course.

I will pass this course if and only if my mom will buy me a new phone.
 MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD
MODULE

Activity 5.2: Variations of Implications

Watch the Video (40 – 60 minutes).
Three related consequences follow from an
implication. These are converse, inverse and
contrapositive. You may click the suggested videos
below and know more about variations of
implications.

Video available here:

(1)
Conditional Statements & Converse Statements | Mathematical Reasoning | Don't…
(2) CONDITIONALS - DISCRETE MATHEMATICS
(3) Converse, Contrapositive and Inverse

Questions to ponder
Now that you have watched the video, please ponder on this.

Variations of Implications
Suppose p and q are propositions. The implication can have three
related statements namely inverse, converse and contrapositive. The table below
summarizes the relationship of these statements.
Statement Symbol Description
Implication If p, then q

Converse If q, then p
Inverse If not p, then not q
Contrapositive If not q, then not p

Example 2.1
p : a triangle is equilateral
q : a triangle is equiangular
(Implication): If a triangle is equilateral, then it is equiangular ( )
 MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD
MODULE

Symbol Variation Statement

(Converse) If a triangle is equiangular, then it is equilateral

(Inverse) If a triangle is not equilateral, then it is not equiangular.

(Contrapositive) If a triangle not equiangular, then it is not equilateral

Think about this

Based on example 2.1, which variation
of the given implication is true?

The next activity will help you organize

the truth values of these statements.

Activity 5.3: Truth Tables

Read Lecture Notes/Watch Videos (45– 60
minutes).
Below is a simple lecture about truth tables.

What is a Truth Table?

Generally, any proposition can be represented by a truth table. It shows the truth
values of a compound statement for all possible truth values of its simple statements.
Suppose p is a proposition. Recall that the negation of p is symbolized by ~p and that p
is either True or False. We can summarize this information using a simple table:
All possible truth values of p All possible truth values of ~p
True False
False True

For convenience, we can simply replace true by T and false by F.

p ~p
T F
F T

Consider two propositions p and q. Then, four p q

possible combinations of truth values can be made T T
from these statements. T F
F T
F F
 MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD
MODULE

Let us say you buy hamburger and fries. This is a conjunction and we write p ∧
q. Suppose you only manage to buy one out of two (at least one is true) or maybe none
at all (both are false). Then we can organize this using this table below.
p q (Conjunction) p ∧ q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F F

Notice in the table that you, buying hamburger and fries, will only be true if you
buy both hamburger and fries. This means that the conjunction p ∧ q is true only when
both p and q are true. However, if either p or q or both are true, then we call that
disjunction. Below is a truth table for disjunction.
p q (Disjunction) p ∨ q
T T T
T F T
F T T
F F F

Hold up! Have a Break.

Complete the missing entries of the truth table

below. The first row is done for you.
p∧ ~p ∧ p ∨ p ∨
p q ~p ~q
q q q ~q
T T F F T F T T
T F
F T
F F
Photo from: www.redbubble.com/shop/mobile+legends+stickers

Recall that an implication follows the form .

In the statement, “ If I use a calculator, then the square of three is nine”. Notice
that when the premise is false, i.e., you don’t use a calculator, still, the square of three is
indeed nine. So anything from a false premise can be implied. This means that p may
not have a direct connection with q.
 MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD
MODULE

See the table below for the truth values of an implication given p and q.

p q (Conditional)
T T T
T F F
F T T
F F T

Since we defined biconditional to be the conjunction of two implications involving

p and q, then constructing a truth table will not really be a problem.
p q (Biconditional)
T T T T T
T F F T F
F T T F F
F F T T T

The table above shows the truth values of a biconditional in the last column. Just
remember that conjunctions will only be true if both premise and conclusion are true.

NOTE:

To avoid always the use of parentheses, a hierarchy of connectives has been

agreed upon by those who study logic. This tells us which connectives should be done
first.
(1) Negation ~
(2) Conjunction ∧ or disjunction ∨
(3) Conditional
(4) Biconditional

Aside from the illustrative examples above this short clip could help you
understand making truth tables.
 MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD
MODULE

Activity 5.4: Constructing Truth Tables

Review Infographics (10 – 20 minutes).
Check the infographic that summarizes 5 easy steps of making truth tables.
MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD
MODULE
 MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD
MODULE

Tautology vs Self-Contradiction
A tautology is a compound proposition that is always true.
On the other hand, a self-contradiction or a fallacy is a proposition that is always
false.
This knowledge will require you to construct truth tables to get the correct
answer.
Here’s a sample of how to check if a proposition is a tautology:

Consider p ∨ ~p . Using truth tables we have,

p ~p p ∨ ~p
T F T
F T T

Since the last column is always true, therefore p ∨ ~p is a tautology.

Logical Equivalence - Two compound statements are logically equivalent if they have

the same truth values.

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

Activity 5.5 Truth Tables Practice Exercises

1. Tautology vs Self-Contradiction
Determine which statements are tautology and which are self-contradiction.
1. (~p→q) ↔ (p˅q)
2. (p→q) ˅ ~ (q↔p)
3. (p↔q) ˄ (~p ˄q)
4.

2. Logical Equivalence
Use truth tables to show if the two statements are logically equivalent or not.
1. ~q→p ≡ ~p→q
2. (p↔~q) ≡ (p ˄~q) ˅ (~p ˄ q)

3.
 MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD
MODULE

Activity 5.6: Euler Circles and Syllogism

Read Lecture Notes (40 – 60 minutes).
The remaining pages of this module will tackle Euler circles and syllogism and
how these help in studying arguments.

Euler Circles and Syllogism

A. Euler Circles – are figures similar to Venn diagrams.
Quantifiers – used to describe the variables in a statement.

(1) Universal quantifier – usually written in the English language as “for all” or “for
every”. The symbol is ∀. Other keywords for universal quantifiers are as follows:
all, each, every, no, none

(2) Existential quantifier – is expressed in words as “there exists” or “for some”. This
quantifier is denoted by ∃.
Type General Form Example

Universal Affirmative All A is B All men are bipedal.

Universal Negative No A is B No dogs have feathers.

Particular Affirmative Some A is B Some dogs are hairy.

Particular Negative Some A is not B Some dogs are not hairy.

Basically there are 4 types of statements illustrated by the Euler Circles.

 MATHEMATICS IN THE MODERN WORLD
MODULE

B. Syllogism – this argument that consists of two premises and a conclusion.

Example:
Premise 1 : All USA students are required for an exit interview after graduation.

Premise 2 : Some USA teachers are enrolled in graduate school.

Conclusion: Some USA teachers will take an exit interview after graduation.

For more examples of syllogism, click this link.