77.9k views
0 votes
Find the negations of these statements.

a) If it snows today, then I will go skiing tomorrow.
b) Every person in this class understands mathematical induction.
c) Some students in this class do not like discrete mathematics.
d) In every mathematics class there is some student who falls asleep during lectures.

User FancyPants
by
7.4k points

1 Answer

1 vote

Final answer:

The negations of the given statements are provided, demonstrating a clear understanding of how to reverse their original meanings. Each one effectively denies the original statement, in accordance with the laws of noncontradiction and the excluded middle.

Step-by-step explanation:

Finding the negations of given statements involves rewording them so that their original meaning is denied. Here are the negations for each of the statements:

  • a) It is not the case that if it snows today, then I will go skiing tomorrow. (Alternatively: It snows today, and I will not go skiing tomorrow.)
  • b) There is at least one person in this class who does not understand mathematical induction.
  • c) Every student in this class likes discrete mathematics. (Alternatively: No student in this class does not like discrete mathematics.)
  • d) There is a mathematics class where no student falls asleep during lectures.

In logic, the original statement and its negation cannot both be true simultaneously, as stipulated by the law of noncontradiction. The law of the excluded middle logically follows, stating that for any given statement, either that statement is true or its negation is true; there is no third option.

User Nwillo
by
7.6k points