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Mind your if ps and then qs

Logical deduction requires you to take things you know are true (or you are told are true) and draw conclusions from those things. For example, consider a standard deck of playing cards. 1. The following statements are absolute statements. If there is even one instance for which the statement fails to be true, then the statement is falseno matter how many instances makes the statement true. For example, If a card is the 3 of diamonds or a spade, its black is false. Although a spade is indeed blackthere are 13 cards that make the statement truethe 3 of diamonds is red, so that one instance makes the statement false. Evaluate each of these as true or false. If its false, give an example that makes the statement false. (a) Queens are red. (b) Jacks are higher in rank than 10s. (c) Hearts are red. (d) If a card is not a heart, then its black. (e) If a card is a spade or a club, then its black. One important kind of statement in logical proof is the if-then statement. A general if-then statement says, if p, then q that is, if p is true, then q must also be true. (a) Two of the statements in problem 1 are already in if p then q format. Identify p and q for each of those statements. (b) Rewrite the other statements so they are also if-then statements. Terry is holding the Queen of hearts. (a) Using only the true if-then statements from problems 1 and 2, can you conclude that this card is higher ranked than 10? Explain. (b) List all the conclusions you can make about Terrys card using only the true if-then statements. Explain how you can make each conclusion. One common mistake people make with if-then statements is getting them backward. The converse statement for if p then q is if q then p. For example: Original (if p then q ): If a card is a Queen, then its red. Converse (if q then p): If a card is red, then its a Queen.
c EDC 2002

A standard deck has 52 cards, divided into four suits: clubs (), hearts (), diamonds (), and spades (). Each suit has 13 cards, which have a rank: From lowest to highest, they are Ace (the 1 card), 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, and King. (For some games, the Ace is higher than the King.) All hearts and diamonds are red, and all clubs and spades are black. So, for example, the 6 of hearts (6) is a red card, but the Ace of clubs (A) is black.

2.

3.

Of course, the card is higher than 10but if all you knew were the true if-then statements, would you be able to gure that out?

4.

Problems with a Point: July 17, 2002

Mind your if ps and then qs: Problem

For the other four statements in problem 1 (or their equivalents in problem 2), write the converse of the original statement. (b) Evaluate all ve converses as true or false. (c) If an if-then statement is true, do you think you can say anything about whether the converse is true or false? If an if-then statement is false, can you say anything about the converse? 5. The contrapositive of if p then q is if not q then not p. For example: Original (if p then q ): If a card is a Queen, then its red. Contrapositive (if not q then not p): If a card is not red, then its not a Queen. (a) Write the contrapositives of the other original statements in problem 1. (b) Evaluate all ve contrapositives as true or false. (c) If an if-then statement is true, do you think you can say anything about whether the contrapositive is true or false? If an if-then statement is false, can you say anything about the contrapositive? (d) Challenge: Explain why it makes sense that your answer to problem 5c is always true for any if-then statement. The inverse of if p then q is if not p then not q : Original (if p then q ): If a card is a Queen, then its red. Inverse (if not p then not q ): If a card is not a Queen, then its not red. (a) Write the inverses of the other original statements in problem 1. (b) Evaluate all ve inverses as true or false. (c) If an if-then statement is true, do you think you can say anything about whether the inverse is true or false? If an if-then statement is false, can you say anything about the inverse? (d) Compare the inverses to the converses and make a conjecture: If one is true, can you say anything about the other? If one is false, can you say anything about the other? (e) Challenge: Explain why it makes sense that your answer to problem 6d is always true for any if-then statement.
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(a)

You may have to do a little rewording, like in the example, for the English to still make sense.

Note: Just as (3) is the same as 3, is not (not a heart) is the same as is a heart.

6.

Problems with a Point: July 17, 2002

Mind your if ps and then qs: Hints

Hints
Hint to problem 5d. There are a lot of ifs here, so be careful. This can be done by the method of proof by contradiction: You assume the opposite of what you want to show, and then, with that assumption, nd a contradiction somewhere. This means something went wrong. As long as you didnt make a mistake somewhere, the only thing that could be wrong is the assumption you madethe assumption must be false, which means what you really wanted to show is true. If that sparks some ideas, try again. If not, or if you get stuck, come back to these hints. We have two cases. One is that the original statement (if p then q ) is true. Then what you want to show is that the contrapositive (if not q then not p) is also true. So suppose the contrapositive statement is false. (This is our assumption that will lead to a contradiction.) These absolute statements only apply (see problem 3) when the if part is true, in this case, not q is true. For the contrapositive statement to be false, then, there must be an instance where not q is true but not p is false. Think about this: 1. Not p is false. What does p have to be? (True or false?) 2. Now that you know what p is, what does the original statement say about q ? (Is it true or false?) Once you have the rst case explained, youre ready to tackle the second casewhen the original statement is false. Remember, for the original statement to be false, there must be at least one instance where p is true but q is not. What happens to the contrapositive statement for that same instance?

Problems with a Point: July 17, 2002

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Mind your if ps and then qs: Answers

Answers
1. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) 2. (a) False; the Queen of spades is black. True True False; any diamond is not a heart, but theyre red. True

If a card is not a heart, then its black: p is a card is not a heart and q is its black. If a card is a spade or a club, then its black: p is a card is a spade or a club and q is its black. (b) If a card is a Queen, then its red. If a card is a Jack, then its higher in rank than 10. If a card is a heart, then its red. No, you cant conclude that the Queen is higher than 10. The only if-then statement that mentions ranking uses Jacks and 10s. Since Queens arent mentioned, you cant make any conclusion about their ranking. (b) The only conclusion you can make is that the card is red (because its a heart). The if parts of the true statements are the card is a Jack, the card is a heart, and the card is a spade or a club. Only the second one is true for Terrys card, so only the corresponding if-then statement (if the card is a heart, then its red) will tell you anything about this card.

3. (a)

4. (a) Converses: Statement (b): If a card is higher in rank than 10, then its a Jack. Statement (c): If a card is red, then its a heart. Statement (d): If a card is black, then its not a heart. Statement (e): If a card is black, then its a spade or a club. (b) The rst three (including If a card is red, its a Queen) are false, the last two are true. (c) The true original statements were statements b, c, and e. Two of the converses are false, but the other is trueso we cant make any conclusion about the converse of true statements. The false original statements were statements a and d. One converse is false and the other is trueso we cant make any conclusion about the converse for false statements, either.

Problems with a Point: July 17, 2002

c EDC 2002

Mind your if ps and then qs: Answers

5. (a) Contrapositives: Statement (b): If a card is not higher in rank than 10, then its not a Jack. Statement (c): If a card is not red, then its not a heart. Statement (d): If a card is not black, then its a heart. Statement (e): If a card is not black, then its not a spade or a club. (b) The rst and fourth contrapositives are false. (Q is not red, but it is a Queen; any diamond is not black, but not a heart.) The other three are true. (c) From these examples, it seems like the contrapositive is true if the original is true, and false if the original is false. (d) Consider a true statement, if p then q . Now suppose not q that is, q is false. Then p cant be true otherwise q would have to be true (if p then q ), and we just said q is false. So, if not q , then not p. Now suppose if p then q is false. That means, for at least one instance, p is true but q is false. Note that q is false means not q is true; similarly, p is true means not p is false. So, for that instance, if not q then not p is false, because not q is true but not p is false. 6. (a) Inverses: Statement (b): If a card is not a Jack, then its not higher in rank than 10. Statement (c): If a card is not a heart, then its not red. Statement (d): If a card is a heart, then its not black. Statement (e): If a card is not a spade or a club, then its not black. (b) The rst three (including If a card is red, its a Queen) are false, the last two are true. (c) The true original statements were statements b, c, and e. Two of the inverses are false, but the other is trueso we we cant make any conclusion about the inverse of true statements. The false original statements were statements a and d. One inverse is false and the other is trueso we cant make any conclusion about the inverse for false statements, either. (d) It seems like the converse and the inverse always have the same value (both true or both false).
Problems with a Point: July 17, 2002 c EDC 2002

Run through this argument with a specic example, if youre having trouble. For example, if x = 2, then x > 0. Suppose x < 0. Then x cant be 2the if-then statement says x cant be 2 unless its also greater than 0. For another example, if a towel is lying in water, then it will be wet. Suppose a towel is dry. Then. . . .

Mind your if ps and then qs: Answers

(e)

This can be explained in the same way as the originalcontrapositive explanation (problem 5d). Or just recognize that while the original is if p then q , the converse is if q then pyoure just switching the variables p and q . Since if not q then not p is the same as the original, if not p then not q must be the same as the converseagain, just switch the variables. (That is, rename p to be q and rename q to be p, and you have exactly the same situation.)

Problems with a Point: July 17, 2002

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