Consider the following statements: P: Good mobile phones are not cheap Q:…

2014

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?

  1. A.

    Only L is TRUE.

  2. B.

    Only M is TRUE.

  3. C.

    Only N is TRUE.

  4. D.

    L, M and N are TRUE.

Attempted by 147 students.

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Correct answer: D

Key insight: P and Q are contrapositives and therefore logically equivalent.

  • Let G mean 'a phone is good' and C mean 'a phone is cheap'.

  • P can be written as: G → ¬C (If a phone is good, then it is not cheap).

  • Q can be written as: C → ¬G (If a phone is cheap, then it is not good).

  • The contrapositive of P (G → ¬C) is C → ¬G, which is exactly Q. Contrapositives are logically equivalent to the original implication.

Conclusion: Since P and Q are equivalent, P implies Q, Q implies P, and P is equivalent to Q. Therefore all three statements L, M and N are true.

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