Once the simple statement and the negation described above are understood the next step in the study of logic is the introduction of compound statements. Compound statements are two or more simple statements joined by connectives.
Two connectives used to make compound statements are the words “and” and “or.” The compound statement formed by the word “and” is called a conjunction, and the compound statement formed by the word “or” is called a disjunction. The connective “and” is often denoted by the symbol ^ , while the connective “or” is denoted by the symbol^. Example.
If p represents the statement I will go to the movies and q represents the statement I will eat at the restaurant then p ^ q represents the statement I will go to the movies and I will eat at the restaurant while p^q represents the statement I will go to the movies or I will eat at the restaurant.
Statements connected with the conjunction “and” are only true when the p statement is true and when the q statement is true. Statements connected with the disjunction “or” are true if either p or q are true. The section on truth tables will further define conjunction and disjunction.
