Math 150 – Spring 2025 Homework 1

Solutions
Due date: Friday, January 31, 2025 11:59 PM

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(6 pts) 1.(a) Determine whether each of these conditional statements is true or false.
(i) If 3 − 1 = 2, then unicorns exist.
Solution: False since by definition p → q is false when p is true and q is false.
(ii) If 1 + 1 = 1, then dogs can fly.
Solution: True since 1 + 1 6= 1, the fact that dogs can not fly is irrelevant.
(iii) If 2 + 2 = 4, then 1 + 2 = 3.
Solution: True since the hypothesis and conclusion both holds.

(b) State the converse, contrapositive, and inverse of the following conditional statement: If it
is cold today, then I will not eat ice cream.
Solution: Converse : If I will not eat ice cream, then it is cold today.
Contrapositive : If I eat ice cream then it is not cold today.
Inverse : If it is not cold today then I will eat ice cream.

(6 pts) 2. Suppose p is a proposition such that

p → ¬p
is True. What can be said about the truth value of p? Explain.
Solution: If p is True, then the statement
p → ¬p
would be
T → F,
which is necessarily False. As we know p → ¬p is True, we must accordingly have p is False.
In this case, the statement is F → T , which we know to be True.

(6 pts) 3. How would you convince another student that a conditional proposition is equivalent to its
contrapositive and not equivalent to its converse without appealing to a truth table. Give an
example.
Solution: Pick a conditional statement that is obviously true but is not biconditional. For
example,
If x > 1, then x > 0. This is obviously true.
Converse : If x > 0, then x > 1. This is obviously false.
Contrapositive : If x ≤ 0, then x ≤ 1; obviously true.
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Math 150 – Spring 2025 Homework 1

(10 pts) 4. Let p, q, r be propositions. Use truth table to show that

¬[(p ∧ q) ∨ (p ∧ (¬r )) ∨ (q ∧ r )]
is logically equivalent to
¬(q ∧ r ) ∧ ((¬p) ∨ r ).
You must explain what about your table shows that the two statements are logically equiva-
lent.
Solution: We demonstrate the truth table for both statements separately. The truth table
for the first statement is as follows:

p q r p ∧ q p ∧ (¬r ) q ∧ r ¬[(p ∧ q) ∨ (p ∧ (¬r )) ∨ (q ∧ r )]

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

We now draw up the truth table for the second statement.

p q r q ∧ r (¬p) ∨ r ¬(q ∧ r ) ∧ ((¬p) ∨ r )

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

We observe that the entries in the last columns of each table (the columns corresponding to
our desired expressions) are identical. Thus, the statements are logically equivalent.

(10 pts) 5. Show that

¬(¬p ∨ (p ∨ q)) → q
is a tautology. You must explain what about your table shows that the statement is a
tautology.
Solution:
p q p ∨ q ¬p ∨ (p ∨ q) ¬(¬p ∨ (p ∨ q)) ¬(¬p ∨ (p ∨ q)) → q
T T T T F T
T F T T F T
F T T T F T
F F F T F T
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Math 150 – Spring 2025 Homework 1

Since the column of the truth table corresponding to our expression is all true, the given
expression is a tautology.

Alternatively, this problem can also be done using logical identities. Observe that
¬p ∨ (p ∨ q) ≡ (¬p ∨ p) ∨ q (associative law)
≡T ∨q (negation law)
≡T (domination law).
Therefore,
¬(¬p ∨ (p ∨ q)) → q ≡ ¬T → q ≡ F → q
≡ ¬F ∨ q (conditional-disjunction)
≡T ∨q
≡T (domination law)

Thus, we see that the statement is logically equivalent to True. Hence, it is a tautology.

(12 pts) 6.(a) Determine whether the propositions (p → q) ∧ (q → r ) and p → r are logically equivalent
using truth tables.
Solution: Not logically equivalent:

p q r p → q q → r (p → q) ∧ (q → r ) p → r
T F T F T F T

We see that the last two columns doesn’t have the same truth value.
(b) What can you say about [(p → q) ∧ (q → r )] → (p → r )? Justify your answer.
Solution: We draw up the truth table for the given statement:

p q r p → q q → r p → r (p → q) ∧ (q → r ) [(p → q) ∧ (q → r )] → (p → r )
T T T T T T T T
T T F T F F F T
T F T F T T F T
T F F F T F F T
F T T T T T T T
F T F T F T F T
F F T T T T T T
F F F T T T T T

In every case, the expression yields true; hence, it is a tautology.