Conditional and Related Statements

Equivalent Forms of the Conditional

• Every conditional statement can be stated in many
equivalent forms. For instance, the conditional, “If I live in
Boston, then I must live in Massachusetts” can be also
stated as:
I must live in Massachusetts, if I live in Boston.

• Table 5.11 lists some of the various forms that may be

used to write a conditional staement.
Example 1 Write a Statement in an Equivalent Form

Write each of the following in “If p, then q form.

a. The number is an even number provided that it is
divisible by 2.

b. Today is Friday, only if yesterday was Thursday.

 Solution
a. The statement, “The number is an even number provided
that it is divisible by 2,” is in “q provided that p” form. The
antecedent is “it is divisible by 2,” and the consequent is
“the number is an even number.” Thus its “If p, the q” form
is: If it is divisible by 2, then the number is an even number.
b. The statement, “Today is Friday, only if yesterday was
Thursday,” is in “p only if q” form. The antecedent is “today
is Friday.” The consequent is “yesterday was Thursday.” Its
“ p, then q” form is: If today is Friday, then yesterday was
Thursday.
 Write a Statement in an Equivalent Form

Write each of the following in “If p, then q form.

a. Every square is a rectangle.

b. Being older than 30 is sufficient to show that I am at least

21.
 Solution

a. If something is a square, then it is a rectangle.

b. If I am older than 30 (p), then I am at least 21.

The Converse, the Inverse, and the Contrapositive
• The converse of p q is formed by interchanging the
antecedent p with the consequent q.
• The inverse of p q is formed by negating the
antecedent p and negating the consequent q.
• The contrapositive of p q is formed by negating both
the antecedent p and the consequent q and interchanging
these negated statements.
 Example 2 Write the Converse, Inverse, and
Contrapositive of a Conditional
• Write the converse, inverse and contrapositive of:
If I get the job, then I will rent the apartment.

Solution
Converse: If I rent the apartment, then I get the job.
Inverse: If I do not get the job, then I will not rent the
apartment.
Contrapositive: If I do not rent the apartment, then I did not
get the job.
 Write the Converse, Inverse, and
Contrapositive of a Conditional
• Write the converse, inverse and contrapositive of:
If we have a quiz today, then we will not have a quiz
tomorrow.

Solution
Converse:If we will not have a quiz tomorrow, then we had a
quiz today.
Inverse:If we do not have a quiz today, then we may have a
quiz tomorrow
Contrapositive: if we will have a quiz tomorrow, then we do not
have a quiz today.
• Table 5.12 shows that any conditional statement is
equivalent to its contrapositive and that the converse of a
conditional statement is equivalent to the inverse of the
conditional statement.
Example 3 Determine whether Related Statements
are Equivalent
• Determine whether the given statements are equivalent.
a. If a number ends with a 5, then the number is divisible
by 5.
If a number is divisible by 5, then the number ends
with a 5.
b. If two lines in a plane do not intersect, then the lines
are parallel.
If two lines in a plane are not parallel, then the lines
intersect.
 Solution

a. The second statement is the converse to the first. The

statements are not equivalent.

b. The second statement is the contrapositive of the first.

The statements are equivalent.
 Determine whether Related Statements are
Equivalent
• Determine whether the given statements are equivalent.

a. If a = b, then a · c = b · c.
If a ≠ b,then a · c ≠ b · c.

b. If I live in Nashville, then I live in Tennessee.

If I do not live in Tennessee, then I do not live in Nashville.
 Solution

a. The second statement is the contrapositive of the first.

The statements are equivalent.

b. The second statement is the contrapositive of the first.

The statements are equivalent.
• In mathematics, it is often necessary to prove statements
that are in “If p, then q” form. If a proof cannot be readily
produced, mathematicians often try to prove the
contrapositive “If ~q, then ~p.” Because a conditional and
its contrapositive are equivalent statements, a proof of
either statement also establishes the proof of the other
statement.
 Question
• A mathematician wishes to prove the following statement
about the integer x.
Statement (1): If x² is an odd integer, then x is an odd
number.
If the mathematician is able to prove the statement, “If x is
an even integer, then x² is an even integer,” does this also
prove statement (1)?

• Answer: Yes, because the second statement is the

contrapositive of statement (1).
 Use the Contrapositive to Determine a Truth
Value
• Write the contrapositive of each statement and use the
contrapositive to determine whether the original statement
is true or false.
a. If a + b is not divided by 5, then a and b are not both
divisible by 5.
b. If x² is an odd integer, the x is an odd integer. (Assume x
is an integer.)
c. If a geometric figure is not a rectangle, then it is not a
square.
 Solution

a. If a and b are both divisible by 5, the a + b is divisible by

5. This is a true statement, so the original statement is also
true.
b. If x is an even integer, then x² is an even integer. This is a
true statement, so the original statement is also true.
c. If a geometric figure is a square, then it is a rectangle.
This is a true statement, so the original statement is also
true.
 Grace Hopper
• Grace Hopper (1906-1992) was a visionary in the field of
programming. She was a mathematics professor at
Vassar from 1931 to 1943, but she retired from teaching
to start a career in the U.S. Navy at the age of 37.
• The Navy assigned Hopper to the Bureau of Ordnance
Computation at Harvard University. It was here that she
was given the opportunity to program computers. It has
often been reported that she was the third person to
program the world’s first large scale digital computer.
 Sheffer’s Stroke and the NAND Gate
• In 1913, the logician Henry M. Sheffer created a
connective that we now refer to as Sheffer’s stroke (or
NAND). This connective is often denoted by the symbol |.
Table 5.13 shows that p|q is equivalent to ~(p^q).
Sheffer’s stroke p|q is false when both p and q are true,
and it is true in all other cases.
• Any logic statement can be written using only Sheffer’s
stroke connectives. For instance, Table 5.14 shows that
p|p ≡ ~p and (p|p)|(q|q)≡pvq.
• Figure 5.13 shows a logic
gate called NAND gate.
This gate models the
Sheffer’s stroke
connective in that its
output is 0 when both input
streams are 1 and its
output is 1 in all other
cases.
The End