COMS W3203-002 assigned 23 Jan.

2017
Homework 1 due 30 Jan. 2017

Remember to...
put your name and UNI at the top!

put the name(s) of your teammate(s) at the top!

show your work and explain your reasoning, for that is the stuff partial credit is made of!

1. 1.2 # 10 [4pts]
A set of statements is consistent if it does not contain a contradiction. Translate these statements into propo-
sitional logic and determine if they are consistent:
Whenever the system software is being upgraded, users cannot access the file system. If users can access the
file system, then they can save new files. If users cannot save new files, then the system software is not being
upgraded.
2. 1.3 # 44 [6pts]
A collection of logical operators is functionally complete if every compound proposition is logically equivalent
to a compound proposition involving only these logical operators.
Show that and form a functionally complete collection of logical operators. You may not use truth tables.
(Hint: Use De Morgans laws to show that p q is logically equivalent to (p q).)
3. 1.4 # 60 [8pts]
Let P (x), Q(x), and R(x) be the statements x is a clear explanation, x is satisfactory, and x is an excuse,
respectively. Suppose that the domain for x consists of all English text. Express each of these statements using
quantifiers, logical connectives, and P (x), Q(x), and R(x).

(a) All clear explanations are satisfactory.

(b) Some excuses are unsatisfactory.
(c) Some excuses are not clear explanations.

Use the rules of inference to show that (c) follows from (a) and (b). State which rules you use.
4. 1.5 # 38 [5pts]
Express these propositions using predicate logic and quantifiers. State what your predicates and the domains
of your variables are.

(a) Every student in this class likes mathematics.

(b) There is a student in this class who has never seen a computer.
(c) There is a student in this class who has taken every mathematics course offered at this school.
(d) There is a student in this class who has been in at least one room of every building on campus.

5. 1.6 # 34 [12 pts]

Translate the premises logic is difficult or not many students like logic and if math is easy, then logic is not
difficult into propositional logic. State what propositional variables you use.
Then translate each of the following statements into propositional logic and determine whether they are valid
conclusions of the premises.

(a) Math is not easy if many students like logic.

(b) Not many students like logic if mathematics is not easy.
(c) Math is not easy or logic is difficult.
(d) Logic is not difficult or math is not easy.
(e) If not many students like logic, then either math is not easy or logic is not difficult.
6. 1.7 # 22 [3pts]
Prove that if you pick three socks from a drawer containing just blue socks and black socks, you must get either
a pair of blue socks or a pair of black socks.
7. 1.7 # 26 [5pts]
Prove that if n is a positive integer, then n is even if and only if 7n + 4 is even.
8. 1.8 # 14 [3pts]
Prove or disprove that if a and b are rational numbers, then ab is also rational.
9. 1.8 # 30 [4pts]
Prove that there are no integer solutions x and y to the equation 2x2 + 5y 2 = 14.