http://www.ck12.org Chapter 16. Logic and Set Theory
To negate complex statements that involve logical connectives like or, and, or if-then, you should start by constructing
a truth table and noting that negation completely switches the truth value.
The negation of a conditional statement is only true when the original if-then statement is false.
TABLE16.7:
P Q P→Q ∼(P→Q)
T T T F
T F F T
F T T F
F F T F
The negation of a conjunction is only false when the original two statements are both true.
TABLE16.8:
P Q P∧Q ∼(P∧Q)
T T T F
T F F T
F T F T
F F F T
The negation of a disjunction is only true when both of the original statements are false.
TABLE16.9:
P Q P∨Q ∼(P∨Q)
T T T F
T F T F
F T T F
F F F T
As mathematical sentences become more complex with additional connectives, truth tables and set theory circles are
good ways to interpret when the statements are true and when the statements are false.