Implication
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: '''Q''': That student passes the class | : '''Q''': That student passes the class | ||
: '''P → Q''': A student gets 100% on the final → That student passes the class | : '''P → Q''': A student gets 100% on the final → That student passes the class | ||
| − | Now consider the case in which two students do poorly on the final exam and while one of them did well enough on the other exams to pass the course, the other did not. Did the teacher lie? | + | Now consider the case in which two students do poorly on the final exam, and while one of them did well enough on the other exams to pass the course, the other did not. Did the teacher lie? |
No. She said nothing about students who do not get 100% on the final (i.e., the case where P is false). Unless there is a student who both got 100% on the final and did not pass the course, the teacher told the truth. | No. She said nothing about students who do not get 100% on the final (i.e., the case where P is false). Unless there is a student who both got 100% on the final and did not pass the course, the teacher told the truth. | ||
Revision as of 21:10, 18 November 2009
Implication is a logical operation on two variables. "P implies Q" is usually written as "P → Q". Equivalent statements include "If P then Q", "P is sufficient for Q", and "Q is necessary for P".
Definition
Implication, the result of "P → Q" is defined by the following table:
| P | Q | P→Q |
| True | True | True |
| True | False | False |
| False | True | True |
| False | False | True |
In other words, if P is true, then Q must also be true.
Somewhat counterintuitively, if P is false, then P → Q is true. To illustrate why this makes sense, imagine a teacher who tells her class that any student who gets 100% on the final exam will pass the class. In other words,
- P: A student gets 100% on the final
- Q: That student passes the class
- P → Q: A student gets 100% on the final → That student passes the class
Now consider the case in which two students do poorly on the final exam, and while one of them did well enough on the other exams to pass the course, the other did not. Did the teacher lie?
No. She said nothing about students who do not get 100% on the final (i.e., the case where P is false). Unless there is a student who both got 100% on the final and did not pass the course, the teacher told the truth.
For this reason, "P → Q" can be restated as "¬(P ∧ ¬ Q)" or "not (P and not Q)", or "it is not the case that P is true and Q is false".
Logical equivalence
- Main article: If and only if
If "P implies Q" and "Q implies P" as well, then P and Q are said to be logically equivalent and we can write "P ↔ Q" ("P if and only if Q" or "P iff Q").
