
Whether used as the strategy in a game of tic-tac-toe or applied in the analysis of a set of arguments, logic is the foundation of all reasoning. In this module, you learned about conditional statements and how making slight modifications to conditional statements can change the meaning and truth value of a logical argument. You also explored inductive and deductive reasoning as you applied your skills of observation to make conjectures. Your knowledge of the law of detachment, the law of contrapositive, and the law of syllogism allowed you to draw valid conclusions. Identifying counterexamples to determine that a statement is false was also an exercise in the use of deductive reasoning. In addition, you examined how to use symbols of formal logic to translate verbal arguments into symbolic form.
As you continue your study of mathematics, you will investigate formal proofs and learn how symbols of formal logic are used to determine their validity. The logic and reasoning skills that you developed during this module will serve you well in your future studies of mathematics.