Help, using Truth Table prove that the following logic statement is a Tautology

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
9 replies · 10K views
Tek1Atom
Messages
15
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



By providing a truth table, show that the following logic statement is a tautology:

p ∧ (p → q) → qAny help will be much appreciated.

Thank You
 
on Phys.org
p | q | P → q
-------------
T | T | T
T | F | F
F | T | T
F | F | T

Thank you Mark44 but I don't think this is the correct answer/method as the output has to be true in all cases in order for it to be labeled a tautology. Any other suggestions?
 
D H could you give me an example please as I am new to logic...
 
You have the truth table for implication. p→q obviously is not a tautology. You weren't asked to show that. You were asked to show that p∧(p→q)→q is a tautology. Your truth table needs to end with a p∧(p→q)→q column on the right and with all four values in this column being T.
 
Thank you DH, that was very helpful. My final question is, does it matter which way we write down the truth table?

e.g.

which one is correct?

p | q | P → q | p∧(p→q)→q
---------------------------
T | T | T | T
T | F | F | T
F | T | T | T
F | F | T | T

OR

p | q | P → q | p∧(p→q)→q
---------------------------
F | F | T | T
F | T | T | T
T | F | F | T
T | T | T | T
 
Tek1Atom said:
Thank you DH, that was very helpful. My final question is, does it matter which way we write down the truth table?

e.g.

which one is correct?

p | q | P → q | p∧(p→q)→q
---------------------------
T | T | T | T
T | F | F | T
F | T | T | T
F | F | T | T

OR

p | q | P → q | p∧(p→q)→q
---------------------------
F | F | T | T
F | T | T | T
T | F | F | T
T | T | T | T

To answer your question about the order, it doesn't really matter, but these are usually presented with the top row being T T ... and the bottom row being F F ...
 
Thank You Mark44. You have been great!