Republic of the Philippines

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY

BATSTATEU ALANGILAN, Alangilan, Batangas City
College of Engineering, Architecture and Fine Arts
www.batstate-u.edu.ph Tel. No. (043) 425-0139 loc. 118/2121

TRUTH TABLES,
EQUIVALENT STATEMENTS, AND
TAUTOLOGIES

Ged 102 – Mathematics in the Modern World

Aizelle Kei D. Camilon
 TRUTH TABLES, EQUIVALENT STATEMENTS, AND TAUTOLOGIES

TRUTH TABLES
In the previous lesson, we defined truth tables for the negation of a statement, the conjunction
of two statements, and the disjunction of two statements. Each of these truth tables is shown
below for review purposes.
Negation

p ~p

T F

F T

Conjunction Disjunction

In this section, we consider methods of constructing truth tables for a statement that involves
a combination of conjunction, disjunction, and/or negation. If the given statement involves
only two simple statements, then start with a table with four rows called the standard truth
table form.

p q Given statement
T T
T F
F T
F F
Standard truth table form for a given statement that involves only the tow simple statements p and q.

Example 1: Truth Tables

a. Construct a table for ~(~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞) ∨ 𝑞.
b. Use the truth table from part a to determine the truth value of ~(~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞) ∨ 𝑞, given that p
is true and q is false.
Solution:
a. Start with the standard truth table form and then include a ~p column

𝑝 𝑞 ~𝑝
T T F
T F F
F T T
F F T
Now, use the truth values from the ~p and q columns to produce the truth values for ~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞, as
shown in the rightmost column of the following table.

𝑝 𝑞 ~𝑝 ~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞
T T F T
T F F F
F T T T
F F T T
Negate the truth values in the ~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞 column to produce the following.

𝑝 𝑞 ~𝑝 ~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞 ~(~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞)
T T F T F
T F F F T
F T T T F
F F T T F
As our last step, we form the disjunction of ~(~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞) with q and place the results in the
rightmost column of the table. See the following table. The shaded column is the truth table
for ~(~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞) ∨ 𝑞.

𝑝 𝑞 ~𝑝 ~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞 ~(~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞) ~(~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞) ∨ 𝑞
T T F T F T row 1
T F F F T T row 2
F T T T F T row 3
F F T T F F row 4

b. In row 2 of the above truth table, we see that when p is true, and q is false, the statement
~(~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞) ∨ 𝑞 in the rightmost column is true.
YOUR TURN!
a. Construct a truth table for (𝑝 ∧ ~𝑞) ∨ (~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞).
b. Use the truth table that you constructed in part a to determine the truth value of
(𝑝 ∧ ~𝑞) ∨ (~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞), given that p is true and q is false.

Compound statements that involve exactly three simple statements require a standard truth
table form with 23 = 8 rows, as shown below.

p q r Given statement
T T T
T T F
T F T
T F F
F T T
F T F
F F T
F F F

Example 2: Truth Tables

a. Construct a truth table for (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ∧ (~𝑟 ∨ 𝑞).
b. Use the truth table from part as to determine the truth value of (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ∧ (~𝑟 ∨ 𝑞), given that
p is true, q is true and r is false.
Solution
a. Using the procedures developed in Example 1, we can produce the following table. The
shaded column is the truth table for (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ∧ (~𝑟 ∨ 𝑞). The numbers in the squares below
denote the order in which the columns were constructed. Each truth value in the column
numbered 4 is the conjunction of the truth values to its left in the columns numbered 1 and 3.

p q r 𝑝∧𝑞 ~𝑟 ~𝑟 ∨ 𝑞 (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ∧ (~𝑟 ∨ 𝑞)
T T T T F T T row 1
T T F T T T T row 2
T F T F F F F row 3
T F F F T T F row 4
F T T F F T F row 5
F T F F T T F row 6
F F T F F F F row 7
F F F F T T F row 8

1 2 3 4
b. In row 2 of the above truth table, we see that (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ∧ (~𝑟 ∨ 𝑞) is true when p is true, q is
true, and r is false.
YOUR TURN!
a. Construct a truth table for (~𝑝 ∧ 𝑟) ∨ (𝑞 ∧ ~𝑟).
b. Use the truth table that you constructed in part a to determine the truth value of
(~𝑝 ∧ 𝑟) ∨ (𝑞 ∧ ~𝑟), given that p is false, q is true and r is false.

ALTERNATIVE METHOD FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A TRUTH TABLE

1. If the given statement has n simple statements, then start with a standard form that
has 2n rows. Enter the truth values for each simple statement and their negations.
2. Use the truth tables for each simple statement and their negations to enter the truth
values under each connective within a pair of grouping symbols, including parentheses
( ), brackets [ ], and braces { }. If some grouping symbols are nested inside other grouping
symbols, then work from the inside out. In any situation in which grouping symbols have
not been used, then we use the following order of precedence agreement.
First assign truth values to negations from left to right, followed by conjunctions
from left to right, followed by disjunctions from left to right, followed by conditionals
from left to right, and finally by biconditional from left to right.
3. The truth values that are entered into the column under the connective for which truth
values are assigned last, from the truth table for the given statement.

Example 3: Use the Alternative Procedure to Construct a Truth Table

Construct a truth table for 𝑝 ∨ [~(𝑝 ∧ ~𝑞)].
Solution:
Step 1: The given statement 𝑝 ∨ [~(𝑝 ∧ ~𝑞)] has two simple statements p and q. Thus, we start
with a standard form that has 22=4 rows. In each column, enter the truth values for
the statements p and ~q, as shown in the columns numbered 1, 2, and 3 of the following
table.

p q p ∨ [~ (𝒑 ∧ ~𝒒)]
T T T T F
T F T T T
F T F F F
F F F F T
1 2 3
Step 2: Use the truth values in columns 2 and 3 to determine the truth values to enter the
“and” connective. See column 4 in the following truth table. Now negate the truth
values in column 4 to produce the truth values in column 5.
 p q p ∨ [~ (𝒑 ∧ ~𝒒)]
T T T T T F F
T F T F T T T
F T F T F F F
F F F T F F T
1 5 2 4 3

Step 3: Use the truth values in the columns 1 and 5 to determine the truth values to enter
under the “or” connective. See column 6 in the following table. Shaded column 6 is
the truth table for 𝑝 ∨ [~(𝑝 ∧ ~𝑞)].

p q p ∨ [~ (𝒑 ∧ ~𝒒)]
T T T T T T F F
T F T T F T T T
F T F T T F F F
F F F T T F F T
1 6 5 2 4 3
YOUR TURN!
a. Construct a truth table for ~𝑝 ∨ (𝑝 ∧ 𝑞).

EQUIVALENT STATEMENTS
Two statements are equivalent if they both have the same truth value for all possible
truth values of their simple statements. Equivalent statements have identical truth values in
the final columns of their truth tables. Th notation 𝑝 ≡ 𝑞 is used to indicate that the statements
p and q are equivalent.
Example 4: Verify that Two Statements are Equivalent
Show that ~(𝑝 ∨ ~𝑞) and ~𝑝 ∧ 𝑞 are equivalent statements
Solution: Construct two truth tables and compare the results. The truth tables below shows
that ~(𝑝 ∨ ~𝑞) and ~𝑝 ∧ 𝑞 have the same truth values for all possible truth values of their
simple statements. Thus the statements are equivalent.

p q ~ (p ∨ ~q) p q ~p ∧ q
T T F T T F T T F F T
T F F T T T T F F F F
F T T F F F F T T T T
F F F F T T F F T F F
4 1 3 2 1 3 2

Identical truth values

Thus ~(𝑝 ∨ ~𝑞) ≡ ~𝑝 ∧ 𝑞

YOUR TURN!
Show that 𝑝 ∨ (𝑝 ∧ ~𝑞) and 𝑝 are equivalent.

The truth tables in Table 1 show that ~(𝑝 ∨ 𝑞) and ~𝑝 ∧ ~𝑞 are equivalent statements. The
truth tables in Table 2 show that ~(𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) and ~𝑝 ∨ ~𝑞 are equivalent statements.
TABLE 1 TABLE 2

p q ~(𝒑 ∨ 𝒒) ~𝒑 ∧ ~𝒒 p q ~(𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ~𝑝 ∨ ~𝑞
T T F F T T F F
T F F F T F T T
F T F F F T T T
F F T T F F T T

These equivalences are known as De Morgan’s laws for statements.

DE MORGAN’S LAWS FOR STATEMENTS
For any statements p and q,
~(𝑝 ∨ 𝑞) ≡ ~𝑝 ∧ ~𝑞
~(𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) ≡ ~𝑝 ∨ ~𝑞
De Morgan’s laws can be used to restate certain English sentences in an equivalent form.
Example 5: State and Equivalent Form
Use one of De Morgan’s laws to restate the following sentence in an equivalent form.
“It is not true that, I graduated or I got a job.”
Solution: Let p represent the statement “I graduated.” Let q represent the statement “I got a
job.” In symbolic form, the original sentence is ~(𝑝 ∨ 𝑞). One of De Morgan’s laws states that
this is equivalent to ~𝑝 ∧ ~𝑞. Thus, a sentence that is equivalent to the original sentence is “I
did not graduate and I did not get a job.
YOUR TURN!
Use of De Morgan’s laws to restate the following sentence in an equivalent form.
“It is not true that, I am going to the dance and I am going to the game.”
TAUTOLOGIES AND SELF-CONTRADICTIONS
A tautology is a statement that is always true. A self-contradiction is a statement that
is always false.
Example 6: Verify Tautologies and Self-Contradictions
Show that 𝑝 ∨ (~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞) is a tautology.
Solution: 𝑝 ∨ (~𝑝 ∨ 𝑞) is always true therefore it is a tautology.

p q p ∨ (~p ∨ q)
T T T T F T T
T F T T F F F
F T F T T T T
F F F T T T F
1 5 2 4 3

Example 7: Verify Tautologies and Self-Contradictions

Show that 𝑝 ∧ (~𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) is a self-contradiction.
Solution: 𝑝 ∧ (~𝑝 ∧ 𝑞) is always false therefore it is a self-contradiction.

p q p ∧ (~p ∧ q)
T T T F F F T
T F T F F F F
F T F F T T T
F F F F T F F
1 5 2 4 3

Reference:
Mathematics in the Modern World
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