GE1- Mathematics in

Modern World
Module 4 ELEMENTARY LOGIC
LOGIC
 Is the study of formal reasoning based upon
statements or propositions (Price, Rath,
Leschensky, 1992). Logic evolved out to
fully understand the details associated with
the study of mathematics.
 For lawyers and judges, Logic is the study of
correct reasoning. They often used logic to
communicate more effectively, construct
valid arguments, analyze legal contracts,
and make decisions.
Historical Note:
One of the first mathematicians to make a serious study of
symbolic logic was Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716).
Leibniz tried to advance the study of logic from a merely
philosophical subject to a formal mathematical subject.
Leibniz never completely achieved this goal;
however, several mathematicians, such as Augustus De
Morgan (1806–1871) and George Boole (1815–1864),
contributed to the advancement of symbolic logic as a
mathematical discipline.
Boole published The Mathematical Analysis of Logic in 1848.
In 1854 he published the more extensive work, An Investigation of
the Laws of Thought.
Concerning this document, the mathematician Bertrand Russell
stated, “Pure mathematics was discovered by Boole in a work which
is called The Laws of Thought.”
Logical Statement:

Every language contains different types of

sentences, such as statements, questions, and
commands. For instance,
“Is the test today?” is a question.
“Go get the newspaper.” is a command.
This is a nice car.” is an opinion.
“Catarman is the capital of Northern Samar.” is a
statement of fact
Definition 1
Statement
A statement is a declarative sentence that is either
true or false, but not both true and false.

Example 1
Determine whether each sentence is a statement or
not.
a. Samar is a province in Region VIII.
b. How are you?
c. c. x + 2 = 7
Definition 2
Simple and Compound Statements
A simple statement is a statement that conveys a single idea.
A compound statement is a statement that conveys two or more ideas.
The following are examples of simple and compound statements:
Simple Statements
a. Corazon Aquino is the first female president of the Philippines.
b. Some houses are made of bricks.
c. Most young people are addicted to Facebook.
d. Some students are attending the workshop.
Compound Statements
a. If square has four sides, then it is quadrilateral.
b. Either a person will eat pizza or pasta.
c. A politician cannot be a Congressman and a senator at the
same time.
d. Jun is a laborer if and only if he works in a factory.
Compound statements are combinations of simple statements
connected by some choice of
words like “not”, “and”, “or”, “if-then”, and “if and only if”. These
connectors are called logical
connectives and are denoted as follows:
Example 2
Consider the following example of statements and their corresponding
symbols.
Example 3
Write the following compound statements in symbolic form
Consider the following simple statements.
p: Today is Friday.
q: It is raining.
r: I am going to a movie.
s: I am not going to the basketball game.
a. Today is Friday and it is raining.
b. It is not raining and I am going to a movie.
c. I am going to the basketball game or I am going to a
movie.
d. If it is raining, then I am not going to the basketball.
Translate the following propositions in symbols into
statements.
Let 𝑝: I will go to movies.
𝑞: I will spend my money.
𝑟: I will eat my favorite food
𝑠: I will ride a bicycle.
1. 𝑝 ⋀ 𝑠 6. ~𝑟 → ~𝑠
2. 𝑞 ⋁ 𝑠 7. ~𝑝 → ~𝑟
3. 𝑟 → 𝑞 8. 𝑟 ↔ ~𝑝
4. ~𝑟 ↔ 𝑝 9. ~(~𝑝 → ~𝑟)
5. 𝑝 ⋀ ~𝑞 10. (~𝑠 ⋀ ~𝑝) ⋁ 𝑟
Operations on Statements
In reasoning, it is necessary to take into account
the role of truth values in logic
Definition 3
Truth Value and Truth Table
A truth value of a statement is true (T) if it is a
true statement and false (F) if it is a false statement.

A truth table shows the relationship between

the truth values of statements. This is a vital tool in
determining truth values of statements formed from
simple statements.
1. Negation
The negation of the statement “Today is Friday.” is the
statement “Today is not Friday.”
In symbolic logic, the tilde symbol ~ is used to denote the
negation of a statement. If a statement p is true, its negation ~p is
false, and if a statement p is false, its negation ~p is true.
The negation of the negation of a statement is the original
statement.
The truth table for ~𝑝 is:
2. Conjunction
If 𝑝 and 𝑞 are statement variables, then
the conjunction of 𝑝 and 𝑞 is “𝑝 and 𝑞”
denoted by 𝑝 ∧ 𝑞. The compound
statement 𝑝 ∧ 𝑞 is true when both p and 𝑞
are true; otherwise, it is false.
The truth table for 𝑝 ∧ 𝑞 is shown below:
3. Disjunction
If 𝑝 and 𝑞 are statement variables, then the disjunction
of 𝑝 and 𝑞 is “𝑝 or 𝑞” denoted by 𝑝 ∨ 𝑞.
The compound statement 𝑝 ∨ 𝑞 is true if at least one of 𝑝
or 𝑞 is true; it is false only when both 𝑝 and 𝑞 are false.
The truth table for 𝑝 ∨ 𝑞 is shown below:
4. Conditional Statement (Implication)
If 𝑝 and 𝑞 are statement variables, then the
statement
“if 𝑝 then 𝑞” or “𝑝 implies 𝑞” denoted by 𝑝 → 𝑞, is called
conditional statement or implication. The statement 𝑝 is
called the hypotheses and the statement 𝑞 is called the
conclusion. A conditional statement is false when 𝑝 is
true and 𝑞 is false; otherwise, it is true.
The truth table for 𝑝 → 𝑞 is shown below:
Definition 4
FORMS OF CONDITIONAL STATEMENTS
Converse, Inverse, & Contrapositive of the Statement 𝒑
→𝒒

1. The converse of 𝑝 → 𝑞 is 𝒒 → 𝒑. To get the converse

Let p and q be statement variables.

of 𝑝 → 𝑞, interchange the hypothesis and the

conclusion.
2. The inverse of 𝑝 → 𝑞 is ~𝒑 → ~ 𝒒. To get the inverse
of 𝑝 → 𝑞, negate the hypothesis and the conclusion.
3. The contrapositive of 𝑝 → 𝑞 is ~𝒒 → ~𝒑. To get the
contrapositive of 𝑝 → 𝑞, negate and interchange the
hypothesis and the conclusion.
 Biconditional Statement (Bi-implication)
Let 𝑝 and 𝑞 be statement variables. The statement
5.

form (𝑝 → 𝑞) ∧ ( 𝑞 → 𝑝) is called the biconditional of 𝑝

and 𝑞. This is read as “𝑝 if and only if 𝑞” and is denoted
by 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞.
A biconditional statement is true if both 𝑝 and 𝑞 have the
same truth values, and false if 𝑝 and 𝑞 have opposite
truth value
The truth table for 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞 is shown below:
Example 4
Answer the following
Let 𝑝: 4/2 = 3 and 𝑞: 3 is a prime number.
Determine the truth value of the conjunction of 𝑝
and q.

Example 5
Answer the following:

Let 𝑝: 5 is even and 𝑞: 200 is divisible by 2.

Determine the truth value of the disjunction of 𝑝 and q.
Example 6
Answer the following:
Let 𝑝: √4 = 2 and 𝑞: 1 is a prime number.

of 𝑝 and q.
Determine the truth value of the conditional statement

Example 7
Answer the following:
Let 𝑝 → 𝑞: If the triangle is isosceles, then the base
angles are congruent.
Find the converse, inverse and contrapositive of 𝑝 → 𝑞 .
Example 8
Answer the following:
Let 𝑝: 3 ∙ 5 = 12 and 𝑞: One meter is equivalent to 100
centimeters.
Find the truth value of the biconditional statement 𝑝 ↔ 𝑞.

Example 9
Determine whether each statement is true or false:
1. 7 ≥ 5.
2. 7 is a whole number and 7 is an even number.
4. 2 is a prime number and 2 is an even number.
Truth Tables, Tautology, Contradiction, and Contingency
Let us examine the following statements and determine the truth value
of each:
1. Either it will rain tomorrow or it will not rain.
2. She is strong or she is not strong.
3. Either I lose or win in this election.
It can be concluded that all given statements are always true. These
statements are examples of tautology statements. Let us see the
following definitions:

Definition 5
Tautology, Contradiction, And Contingency
1. A tautology is a statement that is always true.
2. A contradiction is a statement that is always false.
3. A contingency is a statement that is neither tautology nor
contradiction.
How to construct a Truth Table
The following are the steps in constructing a truth table:
1. If the given statement has 𝑛 simple statements, then start with a
standard form that has rows. Enter the truth values for each simple
statement and their negations.
2. Use the truth values for each simple statement and their negations to
enter the truth values under each connective within a pair of groupings
symbols, including parentheses ( ), brackets [ ], and braces { }. If some
grouping symbols are nested inside other grouping symbols, then work
from the inside out. In any situation in which grouping symbols have not
been used, then we use the following order of precedence agreement:
First assign truth values to negation from left to right, followed by
conjunctions from left to right, followed by disjunctions from left to right,
followed by conditionals from left to right, and finally by biconditionals
from left to right.
3. The truth values that are entered into the column under the
connective for which truth values are assigned last, form the truth table
for the given statement.
The following example shows the step-by-step process of
constructing a truth table.
Example 10
Construct a truth table for 𝑝 ∨ [∼ (𝑝 ∧ ∼ 𝑞)]
Solution:
Step 1: The given statement 𝑝 ∨ [∼ (𝑝 ∧ ∼ 𝑞)] has the two simple
statements 𝑝 and 𝑞. Thus, we start with a standard form that has
= 4 rows. In each column, enter the truth values statements p and
∼q, as shown in the columns numbered 1, 2, and 3 of the following
table for the
Step 2: Use the truth values in columns 2 and 3 to determine the truth values to enter under
the “and” connective. See column 4 in the following truth table. Now negate the truth
values in the column numbered 4 to produce the truth values in the column numbered 5.

Step 3: Use the truth values in the columns numbers 1 and 5 to determine the truth values to
enter under the “or” connective. See the column numbered 6, which is the truth table for
𝑝 ∨ [∼ (𝑝 ∧ ∼ 𝑞)].

As shown in the column 6, the truth values are all T. Thus, 𝑝 ∨ [∼ ( 𝑝 ∧ ∼ 𝑞)] is a tautology
The next examples show alternative procedures in constructing truth tables.
Note: Students may choose any procedure that is easier or more convenient for
them to use.
Example 11
a. Construct a truth table for ∼ (∼ 𝑞 ∨ 𝑟) ∨ 𝑟

(∼ 𝑞 ∨ 𝑟) ∨ 𝑟, given that 𝑞 is true and 𝑞 is false.

b. Use the truth table from part a to determine the truth value of ∼

Solution:
a. Start with the standard truth table form and then include a ∼ 𝑞 column.
Now use the truth values from the ∼ 𝑞 and 𝑟 columns to
produce the truth values for ∼ 𝑞 ∨ 𝑟 as shown in the
rightmost column of the following table.

Negate the truth values in the ∼ 𝑞 ∨ 𝑟 column to produce the

following
As our last step, we form the disjunction of ∼ (∼ 𝑞 ∨ 𝑟) with 𝑞
and place the results in the rightmost column of the table. See

(∼ 𝒒 ∨ 𝒓) ∨ 𝒒.
the following table. The shaded column is the truth table for ∼

b. In row 2 of the above truth table, we see that when 𝑝 is

true, and 𝑞 is false, the statement ∼ (∼ 𝑞 ∨ 𝑟) ∨ 𝑟 in the
rightmost column is true.
The last column shows that ∼ (∼ 𝑞 ∨ 𝑟) ∨ 𝑟 is a contingency
Example 12
a. Construct a truth table for (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ∧ (∼ 𝑟 ∨ 𝑞).

value of (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ∧ (∼ 𝑟 ∨ 𝑞), given that 𝑝 is true, 𝑞 is true,

b. Use the truth table from part a to determine the truth

and 𝑟 is false.

Solution:
a. Using the procedures developed in Example 10, we
can produce the following table.
The shaded column is the truth table for (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ∧ (∼ 𝑟
∨ 𝑞). The numbers in the squares below the columns
denote the order in which the columns were constructed.
Each truth value in the column numbered 4 is the
conjunction of the truth values to its left in the columns
numbered 1 and 3.

b. In row 2 of the above truth table, we see that

(𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ∧ (∼ 𝑟 ∨ 𝑞) is true when 𝑝 is true, 𝑞 is true, and 𝑟
is false.
Example 13
A. Construct a truth table for (∼ 𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ∨ (𝑞 ∧∼ 𝑟).

the truth value of (∼ 𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ∨ (𝑞 ∧∼ 𝑟), given that 𝑝 is false, 𝑞 is

b. Use the truth table that you constructed in part a to determine

true, and 𝑟 is false.

Solution:
a.

b. In row 6 of the above truth table, we see that (∼ 𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ∨ (𝑞

∧∼ 𝑟) is true when 𝑝 is false, 𝑞 is true, and 𝑟 is false.
Example 14
Answer the following:
Let 𝑝, 𝑞, and 𝑟 be statements variables.
1. Show that the statement form ~𝑝 ∨ 𝑝 is a tautology.
2. Show that the statement form ~𝑝 ∧ 𝑝 is a contradiction.
3. Construct a truth table for the statement (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ~𝑟. Determine if it is a
contingency or not.
Solution:
1. Truth table for ~𝑝 ∨ 𝑝:

2. Truth table for ~𝑝 ∧ 𝑝:

3. Truth Table for (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ∨ ~ 𝑟

The statement (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ∨ ~𝑟 is a contingency because it

is neither tautology nor contradiction
Equivalent Statement
Two statements are equivalent if they both have the same truth value for
all possible truth
values of their simple statements. Equivalent statements have identical truth
values in the final
columns of their truth tables. The notation p ≡ q is used to indicate that the
statements p and q are
equivalent.

Example 15
Verify that the two statements are equivalent
Show that ~ (𝑝 ∨ ~𝑞) and ~𝑝 ∧ 𝑞 are equivalent statements
DE MORGAN’S LAW FOR STATEMENT:
For any statement 𝑝 and 𝑞.
~ (𝑝 ∨ 𝑞) = ~𝑝 ∧ ~𝑞
~ (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) = ~ 𝑝 ∨ ~ 𝑞
De Morgan’s laws can be used to restate certain English sentences in an equivalent
Form.
Example 16
Use one of De Morgan’s laws to restate the following sentence in an equivalent form:
It is not true that I graduated or I got a job.
Solution:
Let 𝑝: I graduated.
𝑞: I got a job.
In symbolic form, the original sentence is ~( 𝑝 ∨ 𝑞). One of De Morgan’s laws
states that this is equivalent to ~ 𝑝 ∧ ~ 𝑞.
Thus, a sentence that is equivalent to the original sentence is “I did not graduate
and I did not get a job
Example 17
Show that the following are logically equivalent: ∼ ( 𝑞 ∨ 𝑟) and ∼ 𝑞 ∧ ∼ 𝑟.
Solution:
Table A.

The shaded columns showed that the ∼ ( 𝑞 ∨ 𝑟) and ∼ 𝑞 ∧ ∼ 𝑟 have the same truth
values. Then, we say that ∼ (𝑞 ∨ 𝑟) and ∼ 𝑞 ∧ ∼ 𝑟 are logically equivalent.

To verify our claim, let us determine the truth values of the biconditional
statement:
∼ (𝑞 ∨ 𝑟) ↔ (∼ 𝑞 ∧ ∼ 𝑟)
 Table B.

Let A and B be statements. A and B are said to be logically equivalent

statements if A
↔ B is a tautology.

In this example, statements ∼ (𝑞 ∨ 𝑟) and ∼ 𝑞 ∧ ∼ 𝑟 are logically equivalent

statements since ∼ (𝑞 ∨ 𝑟) ↔ (∼ 𝑞 ∧ ∼ 𝑟) is a tautology as shown in Table B
Quantifiers and Negations
Consider the following statements:

(1)Some people are sharing false information in social media.

(2)All social media influencers are allowed to share their own experiences and opinions.

The terms “some” and “all” in statements (1) and (2), respectively, are examples of
quantifiers. The word “some” and the phrases “there exists” and “at least one” are called
existential
quantifiers and are used to assert the existence of something.

The words, “all”, “every”, “no”, and “none” are called universal quantifiers. The
quantifiers
“all” and “every” are used to assert that every element of a given set satisfies a condition.
Whereas,
“no” and “none” are used to deny or reject the existence of something
The following tables illustrates the negation of some quantified statements.

Example 18
Write the negation of the following statements:
1.) Some borders are open.
2.) All students are required to attend the virtual conference.
3.) No odd numbers are divisible by 2.

Solution:
1.) No borders are open.
2.) Some students are not required to attend the virtual conference.
3.) Some odd numbers are divisible by 2.
Arguments
In this section we consider methods of analyzing arguments to determine
whether they are
valid or invalid. For instance, consider the following argument.

If Aristotle was human, then Aristotle was mortal. Aristotle was human.
Therefore, Aristotle was mortal.

To determine whether the above argument is a valid argument, we must

first define the
terms argument and valid argument
Definition 5
Argument and Valid Argument
An argument consists of a set of statements called premises and another
statement called
the conclusion. An argument is valid if the conclusion is true whenever all the
premises
are assumed to be true. An argument is invalid if it is not a valid argument.

In the argument about Aristotle, the two premises and the conclusion are shown
below.

It is customary to place a horizontal line between the premises and the conclusion.
First Premise: If Aristotle was human, then Aristotle was mortal.
Second Premise: Aristotle was human.
Conclusion: Therefore, Aristotle was mortal
 Arguments can be written in symbolic form. For instance, if we let h
represent the
statement “Aristotle was human” and m represent the statement “Aristotle was
mortal,” then the
argument can be expressed as
h →m
h_______
∴m

The three dots ∴ are a symbol for “therefore.”

Example 19
Write an argument in Symbolic form:
1. The fish is fresh or I will not order it. The fish is fresh. Therefore, I will order it.
Let f represent the statement “The fish is fresh.”
Let g represent the statement “I will order it.”
The symbolic form of the argument is:
𝑓 ∨ ~𝑔
𝑓________
∴𝑔

2. If she doesn’t get on the plane, then she will regret it. She does not regret it. Therefore,
she got on the plane.

Let 𝑚 represent the statement “She got on the plane.”

Let 𝑛 represent the statement “She will regret it.”
The symbolic form of the argument is:
~𝑚 → 𝑛
~𝑛________
∴𝑚
Some Valid Argument Form
1 ) Modus ponens (The Latin meaning of modus ponens is “method of
affirming”)
𝑝→𝑞 (premise 1)
𝑝________ (premise 2)
∴𝑞 (conclusion)

Example. Let:
𝑝: There are more pigeons than there are pigeonholes.
𝑞: At least two pigeons roost in the same holes
If there are more pigeons than there are pigeonholes, then at least two pigeons roost
in the same holes.
There are more pigeons than there are pigeonholes.

Therefore, at least two pigeons roost in the same hole.

2) Modus tollens (The Latin meaning of modus ponens is “method of denying”)
𝑝→𝑞
~𝑞________
∴ ~𝑝

Example. Let:
𝑝: There are more pigeons than there are pigeonholes.
𝑞: At least two pigeons roost in the same hole.
If there are more pigeons than there are pigeonholes, then at least two pigeons roost in
the same hole.
At most one pigeon roost in the hole
Therefore, there are more pigeonholes than there are pigeons.
(or, Therefore, pigeonholes and pigeon are of the same number.)
3) Disjunctive syllogism

a) 𝑝 ∨ 𝑞 b) 𝑝 ∨ 𝑞
~𝑝________ ~𝑞________
∴𝑞 ∴𝑝

Example:
a.) Let 𝑝: Gina is going to study law.
𝑞: Gina is going to study medicine.
Gina is going to study law or medicine.
She does not study law.
Therefore, she studies medicine.
b.) Let 𝑝: The cake has chocolate frosting.
𝑞: The cake has vanilla frosting.
The cake has either chocolate or vanilla frosting.
The cake does not have vanilla frosting.
Therefore, the cake has chocolate frosting
4.)Hypothetical syllogism
𝑝→𝑞
𝑞→𝑟
∴𝑝→𝑟

Example. Let:
𝑝: 18,436 is divisible by 18
𝑞: 18,436 is divisible by 9
𝑟: The sum of the digits of 18,436 is divisible by 9.
If 18,436 is divisible by 18, then 18,436 is divisible by 9
If 18,436 is divisible by 9, then the sum of the digits of 18,436 is divisible by 9.
Therefore, if 18,436 is divisible by 18, then the sum of the digits of 18,436 is
divisible by 9.
5) Dilemma
𝑝∨𝑞
𝑝→𝑟
𝑞 → 𝑟________
∴𝑟
Example. Let
𝑝: 𝑥 is positive
𝑞: 𝑥 is negative
𝑟: 𝑥² > 0
𝑥 is positive or 𝑥 is negative
If 𝑥 is positive then 𝑥² > 0.
If 𝑥 is negative then 𝑥² > 0.
Therefore, 𝑥²> 0
Arguments and Euler Diagram
Many arguments involve sets whose elements are described using the
quantifiers all, some,
and none. The mathematician Leonhard Euler used diagrams to determine
whether arguments that
involved quantifiers were valid or invalid. The following figures show Euler
diagrams that illustrate
the four possible relationships that can exist between two sets.
Eueler Diagram
Euler used diagrams to illustrate logic concepts. Some 100 years later, John
Venn extended
the use of Euler’s diagrams to illustrate many types of mathematics. In this
section, we will construct diagrams to determine the validity of arguments. We
will refer to these diagrams as Euler diagrams.
Example 20
Use Euler diagram to determine the validity of an argument:

All college courses are fun.

This course is a college course.
∴This course is fun.
 The first premise indicates that the set of college courses is a subset of the set of fun
courses. We illustrate this subset relationship with an Euler diagram, as shown in Figure 1.
The second premise tells us that “this course” is an element of the set of college
courses. If
we use c to represent “this course,” then c must be placed inside the set of college
courses,
as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 illustrates that c must also be an element of the set of fun courses. Thus the
argument is valid
Example 21
Use Euler diagram to determine the validity of an argument:
No pediatrician can juggle.
All clowns can juggle.
∴No pediatrician is a clown.

The Euler diagram in Figure 3 shows that the set of pediatricians and the set of
jugglers are disjoint sets. Figure 4 shows that because the set of clowns is a
subset of the set
of jugglers, no pediatrician p are elements of the set of clowns. Thus, the
argument is valid.