Discrete Mathematics and Its Applications

Chapter 1: The Foundations:

Logic and Proofs

1.1 Propositional Logic

1
1.1 Propositional Logic
Introduction
⚫A proposition is a declarative sentence (a
sentence that declares a fact) that is either
true or false, but not both.
⚫Are the following sentences propositions?
Toronto is the capital of Canada. (Yes)
Read this carefully. (No)
1+2=3 (Yes)
x+1=2 (No)
What time is it? (No)

2
1.1 Propositional Logic

⚫Propositional Logic – the area of logic that

deals with propositions
⚫Propositional Variables – variables that
represent propositions: p, q, r, s
E.g. Proposition p – “Today is Friday.”
⚫Truth values – T, F

3
1.1 Propositional Logic
DEFINITION 1
Let p be a proposition. The negation of p, denoted by ¬p, is the statement
“It is not the case that p.”
The proposition ¬p is read “not p.” The truth value of the negation of p, ¬p
is the opposite of the truth value of p.

⚫ Examples
 Find the negation of the proposition “Today is Friday.” and
express this in simple English.
Solution: The negation is “It is not the case that today is Friday.”
In simple English, “Today is not Friday.” or “It is not
Friday today.”
 Find the negation of the proposition “Michael’s PC runs Linux.”
and express this in simple English.
Solution: The negation is “It is not the case that Michael’s PC runs
Linux.”
In simple English, “Michael’s PC does not run Linux.” 4
1.1 Propositional Logic
⚫ Note: Always assume fixed times, fixed places, and
particular people unless otherwise noted.
⚫ Truth table:
The Truth Table for the
Negation of a Proposition.
p ¬p
T F
F T

⚫ Logical operators are used to form new propositions from

two or more existing propositions. The logical operators are
also called connectives.
5
 1.1 Propositional Logic
DEFINITION 2
Let p and q be propositions. The conjunction of p and q, denoted by p Λ
q, is the proposition “p and q”. The conjunction p Λ q is true when both p
and q are true and is false otherwise.
⚫ Examples
Find the conjunction of the propositions p and q
where p is the proposition “Today is Friday.” and q is
the proposition “It is raining today.”, and the truth
value of the conjunction.

Solution: The conjunction is the proposition “Today is

Friday and it is raining today.” The proposition is true
on rainy Fridays. 6
1.1 Propositional Logic
DEFINITION 3
Let p and q be propositions. The disjunction of p and q, denoted by p ν
q, is the proposition “p or q”. The disjunction p ν q is false when both p
and q are false and is true otherwise.

⚫ Note:
inclusive or : The disjunction is true when at least one of the two
propositions is true.
 E.g. “Students who have taken calculus or computer science can take
this class.” – those who take one or both classes.
exclusive or : The disjunction is true only when one of the
proposition is true. Only one
 E.g. “Students who have taken calculus or computer science, but not
both, can take this class.” – only those who take one of them.
⚫ Definition 3 uses inclusive or. (One or both)

7
1.1 Propositional Logic
DEFINITION 4
Let p and q be propositions. The exclusive or of p and q, denoted by p  q,
is the proposition that is true when exactly one of p and q is true and is
false otherwise. 

The Truth Table for The Truth Table for The Truth Table for the
the Conjunction of the Disjunction of Exclusive Or (XOR) of
Two Propositions. Two Propositions. Two Propositions.
p q pΛq p q pνq p q p q
T T T T T T T T F
T F F T F T T F T
F T F F T T F T T
F F F F F F F F F
8
 1.1 Propositional Logic
Conditional Statements
DEFINITION 5
Let p and q be propositions. The conditional statement p → q, is the proposition
“if p, then q.” The conditional statement is false when p is true and q is false,
and true otherwise. In the conditional statement p → q, p is called the
hypothesis (or antecedent or premise) and q is called the conclusion (or
consequence).
⚫ A conditional statement is also called an implication.
⚫ Example: “If I am elected, then I will lower taxes.” p→q
implication:
elected, lower taxes. T T |T
not elected, lower taxes. F T |T
not elected, not lower taxes. F F |T
elected, not lower taxes. T F |F

9
1.1 Propositional Logic
⚫ Example:
 Let p be the statement “Maria learns discrete mathematics.” and
q the statement “Maria will find a good job.” Express the
statement p → q as a statement in English.
Solution: Any of the following -
“If Maria learns discrete mathematics, then she will find a
good job.
“Maria will find a good job when she learns discrete
mathematics.”
“For Maria to get a good job, it is sufficient for her to
learn discrete mathematics.”
“Maria will find a good job unless she does not learn
discrete mathematics.”
10
1.1 Propositional Logic

⚫Other conditional statements:

Converse of p → q : q → p
Contrapositive of p → q : ¬ q → ¬ p
Inverse of p → q : ¬ p → ¬ q

in = not()
conv = 1/()
contra=1/not()

11
 1.1 Propositional Logic
⚫ Find the contrapositive, the converse, and the inverse of the
conditional statement: q whenever p. means p->q
“The home team wins whenever it is raining.”
 Converse “If the home team wins, then it is raining.
 Contrapositive If the home team does not win, then it is
not raining.
 Inverse If it is not raining, then the home team does not
win.

12
1.1 Propositional Logic
DEFINITION 6
Let p and q be propositions. The biconditional statement p ↔ q is the
proposition “p if and only if q.” The biconditional statement p ↔ q is
true when p and q have the same truth values, and is false otherwise.
Biconditional statements are also called bi-implications.

⚫ p ↔ q has the same truth value as (p → q) Λ (q → p)

⚫ “if and only if” can be expressed by “iff”
⚫ Example:
 Let p be the statement “You can take the flight” and let q be the
statement “You buy a ticket.” Then p ↔ q is the statement
“You can take the flight if and only if you buy a ticket.”
Implication:
If you buy a ticket you can take the flight.
If you don’t buy a ticket you cannot take the flight. 13
1.1 Propositional Logic

The Truth Table for the

Biconditional p ↔ q.
p q p↔ q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F T

14
1.1 Propositional Logic
Truth Tables of Compound Propositions
⚫ We can use connectives to build up complicated compound
propositions involving any number of propositional variables, then
use truth tables to determine the truth value of these compound
propositions.
⚫ Example: Construct the truth table of the compound proposition
(p ν ¬q) → (p Λ q).

The Truth Table of (p ν ¬q) → (p Λ q).

p q ¬q p ν ¬q pΛq (p ν ¬q) → (p Λ q)

T T F T T T
T F T T F F
F T F F F T
F F T T F F 15
1.1 Propositional Logic
Precedence of Logical Operators
⚫ We can use parentheses to specify the order in which logical
operators in a compound proposition are to be applied.
⚫ To reduce the number of parentheses, the precedence order is
defined for logical operators.

Precedence of Logical Operators. E.g. ¬p Λ q = (¬p ) Λ q

Operator Precedence p Λ q ν r = (p Λ q ) ν r
¬ 1 p ν q Λ r = p ν (q Λ r)
Λ 2
ν 3
→ 4
↔ 5
16
1.1 Propositional Logic
Logic and Bit Operations
⚫ Computers represent information using bits.
⚫ A bit is a symbol with two possible values, 0 and 1.
⚫ By convention, 1 represents T (true) and 0 represents F (false).
⚫ A variable is called a Boolean variable if its value is either true or
false.
⚫ Bit operation – replace true by 1 and false by 0 in logical
operations.

Table for the Bit Operators OR, AND, and XOR.

x y xνy x Λy x  y
0 0 0 0 0
0 1 1 0 1
1 0 1 0 1
1 1 1 1 0 17
1.1 Propositional Logic
DEFINITION 7
A bit string is a sequence of zero or more bits. The length of this string
is the number of bits in the string.

⚫ Example: Find the bitwise OR, bitwise AND, and bitwise XOR of the
bit string 01 1011 0110 and 11 0001 1101.
Solution:
01 1011 0110
11 0001 1101
------------------- xor
11 1011 1111 bitwise OR bijor sonkhok 1 thakle
01 0001 0100 bitwise AND output 1
10 1010 1011 bitwise XOR

18