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$∃$ quadrilaterals $x$ such that if $x$ is a parallelogram, then $x$ is a kite.

I understand the above statement to be false.

Using the formulae $$¬(∃x∈U)[P(x)]≡(∀x∈U)[¬P(x)]\\ ¬(p⟹q)≡¬(¬p∨q)≡¬¬p∧¬q≡p∧¬q,$$ its negation is:

$∀$ quadrilaterals $x, x$ is a parallelogram and $x$ is not a kite.

Since the original statement is false, the negation of that statement should be true. However, the above negation is also false! I am not sure what I'm doing wrong.

ryang
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wazza19
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2 Answers2

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I think the best way to learn how to work with statements involving quantifiers and implications is to write out what they mean in words

The first statement says

There is a quadrilateral about which you can say that if it's a parallelogram then it's a kite.

That statement is true, because there are quadrilaterals that are not parallelograms. Take one of those irregular quadrilaterals for your $x$. Then the implication

If $x$ is a parallelogram then it's a kite.

is true for that particular $x$ since they hypothesis is false. (That's often confusing for students at first.)

Ethan Bolker
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$∃$ quadrilaterals $x$ such that if $x$ is a parallelogram, then $x$ is a kite.

I understand the above statement to be false.

This is your only mistake. It is understandable, because an existentially-quantified conditional $$\exists x\,(Px\to Kx)\tag1$$ is unintuitive to process, because it sounds unnatural and we are subconsciously tempted to read it as $$\forall x\,(Px\to Kx)\tag2$$ instead. Statement $(2)$ is false; on the other hand, putting $x=\text{kite}$ shows that the given statement, statement $(1),$ is true; that is, there indeed exists a quadrilateral, such as a kite, such that if it's a parallelogram then it's a kite (a kite is not a parallelogram, and every conditional with a false hypothesis is vacuously true).

ryang
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