DISCRETE STRUCTURES AND THEORY OF LOGIC (BCS 303)

Lecture -3
Converse, Contrapositive, and Inverse
Conditional Statement (Original):
This is the "if-then" statement, usually written as p⇒q.
• Example:
✓ p: It rains.
✓ q: The crops will grow.
✓ Meaning: If it rains, then the crops will grow.

Converse:
The converse of p⇒q is simply reversing the order. It becomes q⇒p.
• Example:
✓ Converse: If the crops grow, then it has rained.
✓ Explanation: You're saying that if the crops grow, that means it rained. This is the reverse of the original
statement.
✓ Important: The converse is not always true, even if the original statement is true.

Inverse:
The inverse of p⇒q is negating both p and q. It becomes ¬p⇒¬q (if not p, then not q).
• Example:
✓ Inverse: If it does not rain, then the crops will not grow.
✓ Explanation: You're saying that if it doesn't rain, then the crops won't grow.
✓ Important: The inverse is also not always true, even if the original statement is true.

Contrapositive:
The contrapositive is like the inverse, but you also switch the order of p and q. It becomes ¬q⇒¬p (if not q, then
not p).
• Example:
✓ Contrapositive: If the crops do not grow, then it has not rained.
✓ Explanation: You're saying that if the crops didn't grow, that must mean it didn’t rain.
✓ Important: The contrapositive is always true if the original statement is true.
Truth Table for the Four Propositions

p q Conditional Converse Inverse Contrapositive

p⇒q q⇒p ¬p⇒¬q ¬q⇒¬p
T T T T T T
T F F T T F
F T T F F T
F F T T T T

CONCLUSION: Only the contrapositive is guaranteed to be logically equivalent to the original statement. The
converse and inverse may not always be true, even if the original statement is true.

Example: Show that contrapositives are logically equivalent; that is

¬q ⇒ ¬p ≡ p ⇒ q
Solution. The truth table of -q-p and p
q are shown below and the logical equivalence is established by the last two columns of the table, which are
identical.

p q ¬p ¬q p⇒q ¬q ⇒ ¬p

T T F F T T

T F F T F F

F T T F T T

F F T T T T

As you can see from the table, the truth values in the last two columns are identical. This proves that the
original statement p⇒q and its contrapositive ¬q⇒¬p are logically equivalent.
Example: Prove that if x2 is divisible by 4, then x is even
Solution: We are asked to prove the following implication:
• Statement: If x2 is divisible by 4, then x is even.
• Let’s define the propositions:
p: x2 is divisible by 4.
q: x is even.
The original statement is p ⇒ q.
1. Contrapositive: The contrapositive of p ⇒ q is ¬q ⇒ ¬p, which means:
✓ Contrapositive: If x is odd, then x2 is not divisible by 4.
2. Proof of the Contrapositive: It's often easier to prove the contrapositive. So, let's prove that if x is odd,
then x2 is not divisible by 4.
✓ Assume x is odd. An odd number can be written in the form:
 x = 2k + 1
for some integer k.
✓ Now, let’s square x:
x2 = (2k + 1)2 = 4k2 + 4k + 1
Simplifying this:
x2 = 4 (k2 + k) + 1
Notice that the expression is 4 times some integer plus 1.
✓ This means that x2 is not divisible by 4, because there is a remainder of 1 when dividing by 4.
Conclusion: Since we have proven the contrapositive, we can conclude that the original statement is true.
Therefore, if x2 is divisible by 4, then x must be even.

Biconditional Statement
A biconditional statement connects two propositions (statements) p and q with the phrase "if and only if". It
means that both statements must be true or both must be false for the whole statement to be true.
The biconditional statement is written as: p ⇔ q or simply as "p if and only if q."
Meaning:
• "p ⇔ q" means:
✓ If p is true, then q must also be true.
✓ If p is false, then q must also be false.
• In simpler words: p and q must have the same truth value (either both true or both false) for the
statement to be true.
It can also be described as:
• "p is a necessary and sufficient condition for q."
• This means that for q to be true, p must be true, and vice versa.
Example:
1. He swims if and only if the water is warm.
✓ This means:
▪ If he swims, the water is warm.
▪ If the water is warm, he swims.
✓ He only swims when the water is warm, and the water is only warm when he swims.
2. Sales of houses fall if and only if interest rates rise.
✓ This means:
▪ If interest rates rise, house sales fall.
▪ If house sales fall, interest rates must have risen.
 Truth Table for p ⇔ q:
p q p⇔q
• True when both p and q are true (first row).
T T T
• True when both p and q are false (last row).
T F F
• False when one is true and the other is false (middle
F T F rows).

F F T

Example with a New Car:

Now, let's consider the following propositions:
• P: A new car will be acquired.
• q: Additional funding is available.
• r: A new car will be acquired if and only if additional funding is available.
The statement r (the biconditional statement) can be analyzed as follows:

Case 1: Both p and q are true: Case 3: p is true and q is false:

✓ A new car is acquired, and additional ✓ A new car is acquired, but there is no
funding is available. additional funding.
✓ r is true. ✓ r is false.

Case 2: Both p and q are false: Case 4: p is false and q is true:

✓ No new car is acquired, and no additional ✓ No new car is acquired, but additional
funding is available. funding is available.
✓ r is true. ✓ r is false.

Summary:
• A biconditional statement is true only when both statements are either true or false.
• If one statement is true and the other is false, the biconditional statement is false.
• In real-world terms, "if and only if" means both things must happen together. For example, acquiring a
car depends entirely on the availability of funding, and vice versa.
Practice problems:
1. Show that p ⇔ q ≡ (p⇒q) v (q⇒p)
2. Show that p ⇔ q ≡ (p v q) ⇒ (q ^ p)
Derived connectives
1. NAND (NOT AND):
• It is the negation of the AND operation.
• If you have two statements p and q, "p NAND q" means the result will be false only when both p and q
are true, otherwise it will be true.
• It is written as p↑q and is equivalent to saying ¬(p ∧ q) (NOT of p ∧ q ).
• Truth Table for p↑q:

p q p∧q p↑q

T T T F

T F F T

F T F T

F F F T

2. NOR (NOT OR):

• It is the negation of the OR operation.
• If you have two statements p and q, "p NOR q" means the result will be true only when both p and q
are false, otherwise it will be false.
• It is written as p↓q and is equivalent to saying ¬(p v q) (NOT of p v q).
• Truth Table for p↓q:

p q pvq p↓q

T T T F

T F T F

F T T F

F F F T

Notes on Logical Operations:

1. Negation Using NOR:
✓ Negation (~p) can be represented using NOR as: ¬p ≡ p↓p
2. Expressions Using NOR:
✓ Conjunction (AND): p ^ q ≡ (p ↓ p ) ↓ ( q ↓ q )
✓ Disjunction (OR): p v q = ( p ↓ q ) ↓ ( p ↓ q )

3. XOR (Exclusive OR):

 • The Exclusive OR (XOR) of p and q, denoted by p⊕q, is true when exactly one of p or q is true, but not
both. It is false otherwise.
• Truth Table for XOR:

p q p⊕q

T T F

T F T

F T T

F F F

Properties of XOR:
1. Commutative Property: p ⊕ q = q ⊕ p
2. Associative Property: ( p ⊕ q ) ⊕ r = p ⊕ ( q ⊕ r )
3. Distributive Property: p ∧ ( q ⊕ r ) = ( p ∧ q ) ⊕ ( p ∧ r )

Tautology Contradiction Contingency

• Propositions are declarative statements that are either true or false but not both.
• Connectives are used to combine the propositions.

Determining Nature of Proposition-

• We will be given a compound proposition.
• We will be asked to determine the nature of the given proposition.
Tautology-
• A compound proposition is called tautology if and only if it is true for all possible truth values of its
propositional variables.
• It contains only T (Truth) in the last column of its truth table.
• Truth Table for p v ¬p:

p ¬p p v ¬p

T F T

F T T

Contradiction
• A compound proposition is called contradiction if and only if it is false for all possible truth values of its
propositional variables.
• It contains only F (False) in last column of its truth table.
• Example: Truth Table for p ^ ¬p:

p ¬p p∧¬p

T F F

F T F
Contingency
• A compound proposition is called contingency if and only if it is neither a tautology nor a contradiction.
• It contains both T (True) and F (False) in last column of its truth table.
• Example: Truth Table for p v q:

p q pvq
T T T
T F T
F T T
F F F
Valid

• A compound proposition is called valid if and only if it is a tautology.

• It contains only T (Truth) in last column of its truth table.
Invalid
• A compound proposition is called invalid if and only if it is not a tautology.
• It contains either only F (False) or both T (Truth) and F (False) in last column of its truth table.
Falsifiable
• A compound proposition is called falsifiable if and only if it can be made false for some value of its
propositional variables. (If there is at least one combination of inputs that makes the proposition false).
• It contains either only F (False) or both T (Truth) and F (False) in last column of its truth table.
• Example: Truth Table for p ^ q:

p q p^q
T T T
T F F
F T F
F F F

Unfalsifiable
• A compound proposition is called unfalsifiable if and only if it can never be made false for any value of
its propositional variables.
• It contains only T (Truth) in last column of its truth table.

Satisfiable
• A compound proposition is called satisfiable if and only if it can be made true for some value of its
propositional variables.
• It contains either only T (Truth) or both T (True) and F (False) in last column of its truth table.
Unsatisfiable
• A compound proposition is called unsatisfiable if and only if it can not be made true for any value of its
propositional variables.
• It contains only F (False) in last column of its truth table.

Comparison of Tautology, Contradiction, Contingency, and related terms:

Term Definition Truth Table (Last Similar Terms Opposite Terms

Column)

Tautology Always true for all truth values Only T Valid, Contradiction,
of its variables. Unfalsifiable Invalid

Contradiction Always false for all truth values Only F Unsatisfiable Tautology,
of its variables. Satisfiable

Contingency Sometimes true, sometimes Contains both T Falsifiable, Tautology,

false, depending on input and F Satisfiable Contradiction
values.

Valid A proposition that is always Only T Tautology, Invalid, Falsifiable

true (essentially a tautology). Unfalsifiable

Invalid Not always true; can be false in Contains either F Falsifiable, Valid, Tautology
some cases. or both T and F Contingency

Falsifiable Can be made false for at least Contains either F Invalid, Unfalsifiable,
one combination of truth or both T and F Contingency Tautology
values.

Unfalsifiable Can never be made false Only T Valid, Tautology Falsifiable,

(always true). Contingency

Satisfiable Can be made true for at least Contains either T Contingency Unsatisfiable,
one combination of truth or both T and F Contradiction
values.

Unsatisfiable Can never be made true Only F Contradiction Satisfiable,

(always false). Contingency

Key Observations from the Table:

• Tautology and Valid propositions are essentially the same because they are always true.
• Contradiction and Unsatisfiable propositions are the same, as they are always false.
• Contingency is neither a tautology nor a contradiction—it can be true for some values and false for
others, making it falsifiable and satisfiable.
• Falsifiability relates to whether a proposition can be false, and satisfiability refers to whether it can be
true.
Practice Problems:
1. Prove that the following propositions are tautology
a) p v ~p
b) ~ (p ^ q) v q
c) p ⇒ (p v q)

2. Verify that proposition p ^ ( q ^ ~p ) is a contradiction.

3. Determine the nature of the following propositions using the Truth Table:

a. p ∧ ∼p

b. (p ∧ (p → q)) → ∼q

c. [ (p → q) ∧ (q → r) ] ∧ ( p ∧ ∼r)

d. ∼(p → q) ∨ (∼p ∨ (p ∧ q))

e. (p ↔ r) → (∼q → (p ∧ r))