Discrete Structures

CSC 203
Department of Computer Sciences

Akinsola, JET Ph.D.

Logic
 Outline
What is Logic?
What is a Statement ?
What is a Proposition?
Combining Proposition
Logical Operators
Statement and Operators
Equivalent Statements
Tautologies and Contradictions
Equivalence
Propositional Functions & Predicates
Universal Quantification
Existential Quantification
Quantification
Disproof by Counterexample
Negation
Nested Quantifier

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 Logic
Crucial for mathematical reasoning
Important for program design
Used for designing electronic circuitry
(Propositional )Logic is a system based on
propositions.
A proposition is a (declarative) statement that is either
true or false (not both).
We say that the truth value of a proposition is either
true (T) or false (F).
Corresponds to 1 and 0 in digital circuits
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 The Statement/Proposition Game

“Elephants are bigger than mice.”

Is this a statement? yes

Is this a proposition? yes

What is the truth value

of the proposition? true

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 The Statement/Proposition Game

“520 < 111”

Is this a statement? yes

Is this a proposition? yes

What is the truth value

of the proposition? false

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 The Statement/Proposition Game

“y > 5”

Is this a statement? yes

Is this a proposition? no

Its truth value depends on the value of y,

but this value is not specified.
We call this type of statement a
propositional function or open sentence.

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 The Statement/Proposition Game

“Today is January 27 and 99 < 5.”

Is this a statement? yes

Is this a proposition? yes

What is the truth value

of the proposition? false

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 The Statement/Proposition Game

“Please do not fall asleep.”

Is this a statement? no
It’s a request.

Is this a proposition? no

Only statements can be propositions.

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 The Statement/Proposition Game

“If the moon is made of cheese, then I will be

rich.”

Is this a statement? yes

Is this a proposition? yes

What is the truth value

of the proposition? probably true

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 The Statement/Proposition Game
“x < y if and only if y > x.”
Is this a statement? yes
Is this a proposition? yes
… because its truth value
does not depend on
specific values of x and y.
What is the truth value
of the proposition? true
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 Combining Propositions

As we have seen in the previous examples, one

or more propositions can be combined to form a
single compound proposition.

We formalize this by denoting propositions with

letters such as p, q, r, s, and introducing several
logical operators or logical connectives.

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 Logical Operators (Connectives)
We will examine the following logical operators:

• Negation (NOT, )
• Conjunction (AND, )
• Disjunction (OR, )
• Exclusive-or (XOR,  )
• Implication (if – then, → )
• Biconditional (if and only if,  )
Truth tables can be used to show how these operators
can combine propositions to compound propositions.
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 Negation (NOT)

Unary Operator, Symbol: 

P  P
true (T) false (F)
false (F) true (T)

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 Conjunction (AND)

Binary Operator, Symbol: 

P Q P Q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F F

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 Disjunction (OR)

Binary Operator, Symbol: 

P Q P Q
T T T
T F T
F T T
F F F

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 Exclusive Or (XOR)

Binary Operator, Symbol: 

P Q PQ
T T F
T F T
F T T
F F F

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 Implication (if - then)

Binary Operator, Symbol: →

P Q P→Q
T T T
T F F
F T T
F F T

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 Biconditional (if and only if)

Binary Operator, Symbol: 

P Q PQ
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F T

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 Statements and Operators
Statements and operators can be combined in any way to
form new statements.

P Q P Q (P)(Q)
T T F F F
T F F T T
F T T F T
F F T T T

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 Statements and Operators
Statements and operators can be combined in any way to
form new statements.

P Q PQ (PQ) (P)(Q)

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

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 Exercises
• To take discrete mathematics, you must have taken
calculus or a course in computer science.
• When you buy a new car from Acme Motor
Company, you get $2000 back in cash or a 2% car
loan.
• School is closed if more than 2 feet of snow falls or if
the wind chill is below -100.

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 Exercises
• To take discrete mathematics, you must have
taken calculus or a course in computer science.
◼ P: take discrete mathematics
◼ Q: take calculus
◼ R: take a course in computer science
P→QR
Problem with proposition R
◼ What if I want to represent “take CMSC201”?

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 Exercises
• When you buy a new car from Acme Motor
Company, you get $2000 back in cash or a 2%
car loan.
◼ P: buy a car from Acme Motor Company
◼ Q: get $2000 cash back
◼ R: get a 2% car loan

• P→QR

• Why use XOR here? – example of ambiguity of

natural languages

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 Exercises
• School is closed if more than 2 feet of snow
falls or if the wind chill is below -100.
◼ P: School is closed
◼ Q: 2 feet of snow falls
◼ R: wind chill is below -100

• QR→P

• Precedence among operators:

, , , →, 

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 Equivalent Statements
P Q (PQ) (P)(Q) (PQ)(P)(Q)

T T F F T
T F T T T
F T T T T
F F T T T
The statements (PQ) and (P)  (Q) are logically equivalent,
since they have the same truth table, or put it in another way,
(PQ) (P)  (Q) is always true.
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 Tautologies and Contradictions
A tautology is a statement that is always true.
Examples:
◼ R(R)
◼ (PQ)  (P)( Q)

A contradiction is a statement that is always false.

Examples:
◼ R(R)
◼ ((P  Q)  (P)  (Q))

The negation of any tautology is a contradiction, and the

negation of any contradiction is a tautology.

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 Equivalence
Definition: two propositional statements S1
and S2 are said to be (logically) equivalent,
denoted S1  S2 if
◼ They have the same truth table, or
◼ S1  S2 is a tautology
Equivalence can be established by
◼ Constructing truth tables
◼ Using equivalence laws (Table 5 in Section 1.2)

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 Equivalence
Equivalence laws
◼ Identity laws, P  T  P,
◼ Domination laws, P  F  F,
◼ Idempotent laws, P  P  P,
◼ Double negation law,  ( P)  P
◼ Commutative laws, P  Q  Q  P,
◼ Associative laws, P  (Q  R) (P  Q)  R,
◼ Distributive laws, P  (Q  R) (P  Q)  (P  R),
◼ De Morgan’s laws,  (PQ)  ( P)  ( Q)
◼ Law with implication P→QPQ

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 Exercises
• Show that P → Q   P  Q: by truth table

• Show that (P → Q)  (P → R)  P → (Q  R): by

equivalence laws:
◼ Law with implication on both sides
◼ Distribution law on LHS

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 Summary
• Proposition
◼ Statement, Truth value,
◼ Proposition, Propositional symbol, Open proposition
• Operators
◼ Define by truth tables
◼ Composite propositions
◼ Tautology and contradiction
• Equivalence of propositional statements
◼ Definition
◼ Proving equivalence (by truth table or equivalence laws)

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 Propositional Functions & Predicates
Propositional function (open sentence):
statement involving one or more variables,
e.g.: x-3 > 5.
Let us call this propositional function P(x), where P is
the predicate and x is the variable.
What is the truth value of P(2) ? false
What is the truth value of P(8) ? false
What is the truth value of P(9) ? true
When a variable is given a value, it is said to be
instantiated
Truth value depends on value of variable
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 Propositional Functions
Let us consider the propositional function
Q(x, y, z) defined as:
x + y = z.
Here, Q is the predicate and x, y, and z are the
variables.
What is the truth value of Q(2, 3, 5) ? true
What is the truth value of Q(0, 1, 2) ? false
What is the truth value of Q(9, -9, 0) ? true
A propositional function (predicate) becomes a
proposition when all its variables are instantiated.
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 Propositional Functions
Other examples of propositional functions
Person(x), which is true if x is a person
Person(Socrates) = T
Person(dolly-the-sheep) = F
CSCourse(x), which is true if x is a
computer science course
CSCourse(CSC201) = T
CSCourse(MAT155) = F
How do we say
All humans are mortal
One CS course
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 Universal Quantification
Let P(x) be a predicate (propositional function).

Universally quantified sentence:

For all x in the universe of discourse P(x) is true.

Using the universal quantifier :

x P(x) “for all x P(x)” or “for every x P(x)”

(Note: x P(x) is either true or false, so it is a

proposition, not a propositional function.)

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 Universal Quantification
Example: Let the universe of discourse be all people
S(x): x is a TECH-U student.
G(x): x is a genius.
What does x (S(x) → G(x)) mean ?
“If x is a TECH-U student, then x is a genius.” or
“All TECH-U students are geniuses.”
If the universe of discourse is all TECH-U students, then
the same statement can be written as
x G(x)

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 Existential Quantification
Existentially quantified sentence:
There exists an x in the universe of discourse for which
P(x) is true.

Using the existential quantifier :

x P(x) “There is an x such that P(x).”
“There is at least one x such that P(x).”

(Note: x P(x) is either true or false, so it is a

proposition, but no propositional function.)

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 Existential Quantification
Example:
P(x): x is a TECH-U professor.
G(x): x is a genius.

What does x (P(x)  G(x)) mean ?

“There is an x such that x is a TECH-U professor and x

is a genius.”
or
“At least one TECH-U professor is a genius.”

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 Quantification

Another example:
Let the universe of discourse be the real numbers.

What does xy (x + y = 320) mean ?

“For every x there exists a y so that x + y = 320.”

Is it true? yes

Is it true for the natural numbers? no

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 Disproof by Counterexample
A counterexample to x P(x) is an object c so that
P(c) is false.

Statements such as x (P(x) → Q(x)) can be

disproved by simply providing a counterexample.

Statement: “All birds can fly.”

Disproved by counterexample: Penguin.

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 Negation

(x P(x)) is logically equivalent to x (P(x)).

(x P(x)) is logically equivalent to x (P(x)).

This is de Morgan’s law for quantifiers

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 Negation
Examples
Not all roses are red
x (Rose(x) → Red(x))
x (Rose(x)  Red(x))

Nobody is perfect

x (Person(x) →  Perfect(x))

x (Person(x) →  Perfect(x))

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 Nested Quantifier
A predicate can have more than one variables.
◼ S(x, y, z): z is the sum of x and y
◼ F(x, y): x and y are friends
We can quantify individual variables in different
ways
◼ x, y, z (S(x, y, z) → (x <= z  y <= z))
◼ x y z (F(x, y)  F(x, z)  (y != z) → F(y, z)

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 Nested Quantifier
Exercise: translate the following English
sentence into logical expression
“There is a rational number in between every pair of
distinct rational numbers”

Use predicate Q(x), which is true when x is a

rational number
x,y (Q(x)  Q (y)  (x < y) →
u (Q(u)  (x < u)  (u < y)))

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 Summary
• Propositional functions (predicates)
• Universal and existential quantifiers, and the
duality of the two
• When predicates become propositions
◼ All of its variables are instantiated
◼ All of its variables are quantified
• Nested quantifiers
◼ Quantifiers with negation
• Logical expressions formed by predicates,
operators, and quantifiers
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Second Semester 2019 CSC 208 - Discrete Structures