Proving De Morgan's Law: A' U B

  • Context: Undergrad 
  • Thread starter Thread starter franz32
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Law
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around proving De Morgan's Law, specifically the expression (A intersection B)' = A' U B'. Participants explore various methods of proof, including proof by contradiction, truth tables, and Venn diagrams, while addressing the nuances of set theory and logical connectives.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants suggest using proof by contradiction to demonstrate the validity of the expression, assuming it is false and deriving a contradiction.
  • Others propose drawing truth tables to show that both expressions are equivalent, asserting that equivalence is established if the truth tables match.
  • One participant discusses set builder notation and the application of logical negation to derive the complement of the union of sets.
  • Several participants recommend using Venn diagrams as a visual method to illustrate the equivalence of the two expressions, noting that it can make the relationship clearer.
  • Another participant mentions the difficulty of constructing truth tables compared to Venn diagrams, suggesting that Venn diagrams may be a simpler approach for visualizing the proof.
  • A participant raises a question about the terminology, noting the difference between referring to De Morgan's Theorem and De Morgan's Law, indicating some historical context and potential confusion in naming conventions.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of methods for proving De Morgan's Law, with no consensus on a single preferred approach. Some favor proof by contradiction, while others advocate for truth tables or Venn diagrams. The discussion remains open-ended with multiple competing views on the best method to use.

Contextual Notes

Some participants mention the limitations of their approaches, such as the challenges of using truth tables or the need for clarity in notation when discussing logical symbols. There is also an acknowledgment of differing opinions on terminology related to De Morgan's concepts.

franz32
Messages
133
Reaction score
0
I hope someone can help me prove one of De Morgan's Law:

(A intersection B)' = A' U B'
 
Physics news on Phys.org
franz32 said:
I hope someone can help me prove one of De Morgan's Law:

(A intersection B)' = A' U B'
I can suggest a way to prove it, although I've never formally done any of this stuff so I don't know if this approach is "acceptable." Anyways, it's a proof by contradiction. Assume the equation were false. That would mean that there exists and element, x, such that it is not in (A' U B') but is in (A intersection B)'. Now, if it is not in (A' U B'), then it is not in A' and it is not in B' (if it were in either of those, it would be in A' U B'). So, if it is not in A', it is in A, and if it is not in B', it is in B. Therefore, this element, x, is in A and it is in B, so it is in (A intersection B). Therefore, it is not in (A intersection B)'. This contradicts, the assumption, therefore the equation must be right.
 
franz32,

Draw truth tables for both expressions. The expressions are equivalent if and only if their truth tables are the same.
 
S=A U B means, "Every element of S is either an element of A or an element of B (or of both)", and T=A ^ B means, "Every element of S is an element of both A and B".

We can write this using set builder notation:

A U B={x|xεA or xεB}

Take the complement:

(A U B)'={x|xεA or εB}'

Taking the complement of the statement on the RHS is the same as logically negating the "or" statement inside. Thus,

(A U B)'={x|~(xεA or xεB)}

Now apply DeMorgan's law for logical connectives to fit this to the definition of A'^B'. You can justify the use of DeMorgan's law for logic by using truth tables.
 
Proposition: (A \cap B)' \subseteq (A' \cup B')

Proof: (by contradiction)
Assume: (A \cap B)' \not\subseteq (A' \cup B')
\therefore \exists x \mbox{ such that } x \in (A \cap B)',\ x \notin (A' \cup B')
[x \notin (A' \cup B')] \Longrightarrow (x \notin A' \wedge x \notin B')
\Longrightarrow (x \in A \wedge x \in B)
\Longrightarrow [x \in (A \cap B)]
\Longrightarrow [x \notin (A \cap B)']
\oplus \mbox{ (contradiction)}​
\therefore (A \cap B)' \subseteq (A' \cup B')\ \dots \ (1)​
Proposition: (A' \cup B') \subseteq (A \cap B)'

Proof: (by contradiction)
Assume: (A' \cup B') \not\subseteq (A \cap B)'
\therefore \exists x \mbox{ such that } x \notin (A \cap B)',\ x \in (A' \cup B')
[x \notin (A \cap B)'] \Longrightarrow [x \in (A \cap B)]
\Longrightarrow (x \in A \wedge x \in B)
\Longrightarrow [x \notin A' \wedge x \notin B')]
\Longrightarrow [x \notin (A' \cup B')]
\oplus \mbox{ (contradiction)}​
\therefore (A' \cup B') \subseteq (A \cap B)'\ \dots \ (2)​
By (1) and (2), (A' \cup B') = (A \cap B)'
 
Last edited:
Oh.. I see

Well, thanks for all your helps. I got it. :biggrin:
 
Draw a Venn Diagram.

It becomes painfully obvious.
 
Gokul43201 said:
Draw a Venn Diagram.

It becomes painfully obvious.

Ha! The last time I responded to a request for help in proving a set-theroetic statement, I said the same thing. But the poster said it wasn't allowed, so I did it "the hard way" this time.

It's true though, franz32, you can show that both statements have the same Venn diagram, and are therefore equivalent.
 
franz32 said:
I hope someone can help me prove one of De Morgan's Law:

(A intersection B)' = A' U B'

I haven't really looked at the LATEX stuff, so I'll have to do it with words.
Let x be in (A intersection B)'.
Then x is NOT in A intersection B
<=> x not in A AND x not in B (use logical connectors, negations, etc)
<=> x in A' OR x in B'
<=> x in A' U B'

That's one of them, hope it makes sense... you do the other one. (it's exactly the same) :smile:
 
  • #10
doing a truth table would be difficult, but a venn diagram would be the least painful way. i know you have the answer but still for further problems like this, venn is the way to go.
 
  • #11
1+1=1 said:
doing a truth table would be difficult,

It's no more difficult than the Venn diagram. Once you reduce DeMorgan's law for sets to DeMorgan's law for logic, all you have to do is show that ~(p and q) has the same truth table as (~p or ~q).

~(p and q)
Since (p and q) is true only when (p,q)=(T,T), the negation is false only when (p,q)=(T,T).

(~p or ~q)
Since (p or q) is only false when (p,q)=(F,F), the statement (~p or ~q) is false only when (p,q)=(T,T).

Since the two statements have the exact same truth table, they are equivalent.
 
  • #12
hello

can some one Plz explain to me my task:

Prove De Morgan Law with the appropriate explanation were p and q are sentence meaning (proposition)

~(p ^ ( it s OR i dnt knw how to type on comuter) ---(if) (~p) ^ (~q)

and which font should i use so that i can type the symbols and if some one will prove it i will be glad
 
  • #13
jonsina said:
which font should i use so that i can type the symbols
The best way is to use LaTeX. Click the quote button in post #5 to see how AKG did it. (tex tags will produce slightly larger output than itex tags). You will like the LaTeX codes \lnot,\lor and \land. There are lots of lists of LaTeX symbols online that you can find using Google. I also recommend that you use the preview button to check that everything looks OK before you submit your post.
 
  • #15
Not to sidetrack the thread, but when did DeMorgan's Theorem become DeMorgan's Law ? I had never heard it called that but when I googled it, I got about 59,000 hits for law, 49,000 for theorem. I don't think when I learned it about 50 years ago it was every called anything but DeMorgan's Theorem.
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
2K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
5K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
3K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
4K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
3K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
4K
  • · Replies 15 ·
Replies
15
Views
4K