Truth Values of

Compound
Propositions
  Construct table of value of
Learning compound propositions
Objectives  Define contradiction, tautology,
and contingency
 Show contradiction, tautology, and
contingency using truth values
 Show logical equivalence using
truth values
 Logical Connectives

Operator Symbol Usage

Negation ~ not
Conjunction  and
Disjunction  or
Conditional  if, then
Biconditional  iff
 Truth Tables
Negation (not): Conjunction (and):
p ~p p q p q
F T T T T
T F T F F
F T F
F F F
 Truth Tables
Disjunction (or): Conditional (implies): Biconditional (iff):

𝒑 𝒒 𝒑∨𝒒 𝒑 𝒒 𝒑→𝒒 𝒑 𝒒 𝒑→𝒒

T T T T T T T T T
T F T T F F T F F
F T T F T T F T F
F F F F F T F F T
 Precedence of Propositions
Example:
Operator Symbol Order The proposition
~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞 ∧ 𝑟 ↔ 𝑞 → 𝑝 ∧ 𝑟
Negation ~ 1 highest
Conjunction  2 is equivalent to
Disjunction  2 ○ ~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞 ∧ 𝑟 ↔
Conditional  3
○ 𝑞 → 𝑝∧𝑟
Biconditional  4 lowest
 Constructing a Truth Table

Construct a truth table for the following compound

propositions:
1. 𝑃 ∧ ~𝑃

2. (~𝑃 ∨ 𝑄) ↔ (𝑃 → 𝑄)

3. (𝑃 ∧ ~𝑄) → 𝑅
 Constructing a Truth Table
1. 𝑃 ∧ ~𝑃
𝑃 ~𝑃 𝑃 ∧ ~𝑃
T F F

F T F
 Constructing a Truth Table
2. (~𝑃 ∨ 𝑄) ↔ (𝑃 → 𝑄)

P Q ~P ~P∨Q P→Q (~P∨Q)↔(P→Q)

T T F T T T
T F F F F T
F T T T T T
F F T T T T
 Constructing a Truth Table
P Q R ~Q P∧~Q (P∧~Q)→R
3. (𝑃 ∧ ~𝑄) → 𝑅 T T T F F T
T T F F F T
T F T T T T
T F F T T F
F T T F F T
F T F F F T
F F T T F T
F F F T F T
 Compound Propositions
 A contradiction is a compound proposition that is false
for all possible truth values of its component
propositions.

 A tautology is a compound proposition that is true for

all possible truth values of its component propositions.

 A contingency or contingent proposition is a compound

proposition that is neither a tautology nor a
contradiction.
 Compound Propositions
1. 𝑃 ∧ ~𝑃 contradiction
2. (~𝑃 ∨ 𝑄) ↔ (𝑃 → 𝑄) tautology
3. (𝑃 ∧ ~𝑄) → 𝑅 contingency
 SEATWORK

Construct the truth table of the following compound

propositions:
1. 𝑃 ∨ ~(𝑃 ∧ 𝑄)

2. ~𝑄 ↔ (𝑃 ∧ 𝑅)

3. 𝑃 → 𝑄 ↔ ~𝑄 → 𝑃