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#1 2012-10-16 05:10:00

genericname
Member
Registered: 2012-05-16
Posts: 52

What does the 'p' in the beginning mean? (Logic/Truth table question)

http://i.imgur.com/qGLc1.png

Hi,
Does it mean that all the P's for that problem are true? The problem is telling me to use a truth table to tell whether or not the statement is true and the 'p' in front put me off.

Last edited by genericname (2012-10-16 05:10:16)

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#2 2012-10-16 05:30:21

Bob
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Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,052

Re: What does the 'p' in the beginning mean? (Logic/Truth table question)

hi genericname

The notation is a little unclear but compare with

http://www.cs.odu.edu/~toida/nerzic/lev … L/E2L.html

I think

p, p<=>q     means   p and p<=>q

The truth tables agree with p^q and you can only test the equivalence if you can also consider the cases where p is false.

Hope that's right.

Bob


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#3 2012-10-16 06:01:42

anonimnystefy
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From: Harlan's World
Registered: 2011-05-23
Posts: 16,049

Re: What does the 'p' in the beginning mean? (Logic/Truth table question)

bob bundy wrote:

The truth tables agree with p^q and you can only test the equivalence if you can also consider the cases where p is false.

What do you mean by this?


“Here lies the reader who will never open this book. He is forever dead.
“Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment
The knowledge of some things as a function of age is a delta function.

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#4 2012-10-16 06:17:36

Bob
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Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,052

Re: What does the 'p' in the beginning mean? (Logic/Truth table question)

Do you know what a truth table is?

Bob


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#5 2012-10-16 06:27:11

genericname
Member
Registered: 2012-05-16
Posts: 52

Re: What does the 'p' in the beginning mean? (Logic/Truth table question)

bob bundy wrote:

hi genericname

The notation is a little unclear but compare with

http://www.cs.odu.edu/~toida/nerzic/lev … L/E2L.html

I think

p, p<=>q     means   p and p<=>q

The truth tables agree with p^q and you can only test the equivalence if you can also consider the cases where p is false.

Hope that's right.

Bob

So it saying to compare the values of p^q with p<=>q?

p | q | p<=>q | p^q |
0 | 0 |      1    |    0   |
0 | 1 |      0    |    0   |
1 | 0 |      0    |    0   |
1 | 1 |      1    |    1   |

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#6 2012-10-16 06:41:12

Bob
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Registered: 2010-06-20
Posts: 10,052

Re: What does the 'p' in the beginning mean? (Logic/Truth table question)

hi genericname

The truth table below shows what I did.  I'm not saying it is correct; to tell the truth that comma has me puzzled too.  I'd prefer all compound statements to be made using only propostional calculus notation.

Have a look back at your notes / text book.  What is a comma supposed to mean?

If you take a look at that link I gave you, you'll find the author uses two different notations:

notation 1

statement 1
statement 2 underneath

notation 2

statement 1 & statement 2

I assumed that the comma was the equivalent of notation 1.

Bob


Children are not defined by school ...........The Fonz
You cannot teach a man anything;  you can only help him find it within himself..........Galileo Galilei
Sometimes I deliberately make mistakes, just to test you!  …………….Bob smile

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#7 2012-10-16 07:31:21

genericname
Member
Registered: 2012-05-16
Posts: 52

Re: What does the 'p' in the beginning mean? (Logic/Truth table question)

Thanks, Bob. smile

Last edited by genericname (2012-10-16 07:31:37)

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