Truth Table, Equivalent Statements, and Tautologies

In Logic Statements and Quantifiers, we define truth tables for the

negation of a statement, the conjunction of two statements, and the
disjunction of two statements.
Negation Conjunction
p ~p Disjunction
p q p^q p q pvq

T F T T T T T T
T F F T F T
F T
F T F F T T
F F F F F F

In this subtopic, we consider methods of constructing truth tables for a

statement that involves a combination of conjunction, disjunction and/or
negations. If the given statements involves only two simple statements p
and q, then start with a table with four rows called standard truth table form.
See the table below.
P q Given Statement
T T

T F
F T

F F
EXAMPLE 1: Truth Tables
a. Construct a table for ~ (~p v q) v q.
Solution:
Step 1: Start with the statement truth table from and then include a ~p
column.
p q ~p
T T F
T F F
F T T
F F T

Step 2: Now use the truth values from the ~p and q column to produce the
truth values for ~p v q, as shown in the rightmost column of the following
table.
p q ~p ~p v
q
T T F T

T F F F

F T T T

F F T T

Step 3: Negate the truth values in the ~p v q column to produce the

following.
p q ~p ~p v q ~(~p v
q)

T T F T F

T F F F T

F T T T F
 F F T T F

Step 4: As our last step, we form the disjunction of ~ (~p v 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 ~ (~p v q) v q.
p Q ~p ~p v q ~(~p v q) ~ (~p v q)
v q.

T T F T F T

T F F F T T

T
F T T T F

F
F T T T F

b. Use the truth table from part a to determine the truth value of ~ (~p v
q) v q, given that p is the true and q is false.
Solution:
In row 2 of the above truth table, we see that when p is true,
and q is false, the statement ~ (~p v q) v q in the rightmost column is true.

Compound statements that involve exactly three simple statements

require a standard truth table form with 23 = 8 rows, as show 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 v q).
Solution:
Using the procedures developed in Example 1, we can produce the
following table. The shaded column is the truth table for (p ^ q) ^ (~r v
q). The numbers in the squares below the column denote to 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 column
numbered 1 and 3.
P q r p^q ~r ~r v q (p ^ q) ^ (~r v
q)
T T T T F T T

T T F T T T T

T F T F F F F

T F F F T T F

F T T F F T F

F T F F T T F

F F T F F F F

F F F F T T F

1 2 3
4
There is an alternative procedure for constructing a truth table, it is generally
requires less writing, less time, and less effort than the truth table procedure
that was used in Examples 1 and 2.
EXAMPLE 3: Use the Alternative Procedure to Construct a Truth
Table
a. Construct a truth table for p v [~ (p ^ ~q)].
Solution:
Step 1: The given statement p v [~ (p ^ ~q)] has the two simple statement
p and q. Thus we start with standard form that has 2 2 = 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 v [~ (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 column 2 and 3 to determine the truth
values to enter under 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 v [~ (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 column 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 v [~ (p ^ ~q)].

p q p v [~ (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
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 value in the final column of their truth tables. The notion p ≡ q
is used to indicate that the statements p and q are equivalent.
EXAMPLE 4: Verify That Two Statements Are Equivalent
a. Show that ~ (p v q) and ~p ^ q are equivalent statements.
Solution:
Construct two truth tables and compare the results. The truth tables below
show that ~ (p v ~ q) and ~p ^ q have the same truth values for all possible
truth values of the simple statements. Thus the statement are equivalent.
P q ~ (p v ~ p q ~p ^
q) q
T T T 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 T F T T F F F F
F
4 1 3
2 1 3 2
Thus ~ (p v ~ q) ≡ ~p ^ q
 De Morgan’s Laws for Statements

For any statements p and q.

~(p v q) ≡ ~p ^ ~q
~(p ^ q) ≡ ~p v ~q

p q ~(p v ~p ^ P q ~(p ^ ~p v
q) ~q q) ~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

The Truth Tables in Table shows that ~ (p v q) and ~p ^ ~q are equivalent

statements. The truth tables in Table show that ~ (p ^ q) and ~p v ~q are
equivalent statements. These equivalences are known as De Morgan’s
Laws for statements. De Morgan’s laws can be used to restate certain
English sentences in an equivalent form.
EXAMPLE 5: State an Equivalent Form
a. It is not true that, I graduated or I got a job.
Solution:
Let p present the statement “I graduated.” Let q represent the
statement “I got a job.” In symbolic form, the original sentence is ~ (p v 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 graduate and I
did not get a job.”
Tautologies and Self – Contradictions
A tautologies is a statement that is always true. A self- contradictions is a
statement that is always false.
EXAMPLE 6: Verify Tautologies and Self- Contradictions
a. Show that p v (~p v q) is a tautology.
Solution:
Enter the truth values for each simple statements and its negation as shown
in the column numbered 1, 2, and 3. Use the truth values in column 2 and 3
to determine the truth values to enter in column 4, under the “or”
connective. Use the truth values in columns 1 and 4 determine the truth
values to enter in column 5, under the “or” connective.

p q p v (~p v
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
Column 5 of the table shows that p v (~p v q) is always true. Thus p v (~p v
q)is a tautology.