Question

Consider the following statements:

P: Good mobile phones are not cheap
Q: Cheap mobile phones are not good
L: P implies Q
M: Q implies P
N: P is equivalent to Q

Which one of the following about L, M, and N is CORRECT?

Choose one option
Official answer and solution
Official answer
D
From
Official GATE 2014 answer key

Solution

Formalize the statements into predicate logic and test for logical equivalence and mutual implication.

  1. Let the domain be mobile phones. Define predicates:

    • G(x)G(x): xx is a good mobile phone.
    • C(x)C(x): xx is a cheap mobile phone.
  2. Formalize statement PP:
    "Good mobile phones are not cheap":

    P:∀x,(G(x)→¬C(x)).P: \forall x, (G(x) \to \neg C(x)).
  3. Formalize statement QQ:
    "Cheap mobile phones are not good":

    Q:∀x,(C(x)→¬G(x)).Q: \forall x, (C(x) \to \neg G(x)).
  4. Recall that the contrapositive of an implication A→BA \to B is ¬B→¬A\neg B \to \neg A, and any implication is logically equivalent to its contrapositive.
    The contrapositive of G(x)→¬C(x)G(x) \to \neg C(x) is:

    ¬(¬C(x))→¬G(x)  ⟺  C(x)→¬G(x).\neg (\neg C(x)) \to \neg G(x) \iff C(x) \to \neg G(x).

    Hence, statement PP is logically equivalent to statement QQ (P≡QP \equiv Q).

  5. Since P≡QP \equiv Q:

    • P  ⟹  QP \implies Q is TRUE (statement LL).
    • Q  ⟹  PQ \implies P is TRUE (statement MM).
    • P  ⟺  QP \iff Q is TRUE (statement NN).

Therefore, LL, MM, and NN are all TRUE (option D).

Final answer

D

Common trap

Believing that Q is the inverse or converse of P rather than recognizing that Q is precisely the contrapositive of P.

The answer is the one in the official GATE answer key. The solution is this site's own explanation.

Source

Paper
GATE 2014 Computer Science and Information Technology (CS) Session 3
Question
11 of 65, printed as CS Q.1
Section
Computer Science and Information Technology

Report an error in this question

GATE questions are the work of the organising institutes. This site is independent and is not affiliated with them.