Ambo University Institute of Technology
School of Informatics and Electrical Engineering
Department of Computer Science
Logic In Computer Science
Chapter Three: Normal Forms
Bayisa Gutema(MSc)
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Normal Forms
Definition: Let 𝜙 and 𝜓 be formula of propositional logic. We
say that ⊧ and ⊧ are semantically equivalent iff 𝝓 ⊧ 𝜓 and 𝜓 ⊧
In that case we can write 𝝓 𝝣 𝜓.Further, we call 𝝓 is valid if
𝝓 holds.
• Note that we could also defined 𝝓 𝝣 𝜓 to mean that ⊧ (𝝓
⊧ 𝝓.
→ 𝜓)˄(𝜓 → 𝝓)holds.
• Because of its soundness and completeness semantic
equivalence is identical.
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Lemma
• Given formulas , and 𝜓 propositional logic , ⊢ 𝜓 holds iff
⊧ → 𝜓) holds.
• For current purpose, we want to transform formulas in to one
which don’t contain at all and occurrence of ˄ and ˅ are
confined to separate layers such that validity checks are easy.
1. Using equivalence 𝝓→𝜓𝝣¬ϕ˅𝜓 to remove all occurrence of
This is being done by
→ from formulas.
2. By specifying an algorithm takes the formula without any in
to normal forms(still without )for which validity is easy.
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Conjunctive Normal Form(CNF)
• A literal L is either an atom p or negation an atom ¬p. A
formula C is in Conjunctive normal forms(CNF) if it is
conjunction of clauses, where each clause D is a Disjunctive
of a literal.
1. L ::= P / ¬P
2. D ::= L / L ˅ D
3. C ::= D/ D ˄ C
Example of formulas of Conjunctive normal forms
)
In the first case, there are three clause of type D. , and .
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Cont..
• A literal is either a propositional variable or its negation. e.g.,
A and ¬ A are literals.
• A disjunctive normal form (DNF) is a wff of the form C1 …
Cn, where each Ci is a conjunction of literals, called a
fundamental conjunction.
• A conjunctive normal form (CNF) is a wff of the form D1
… Dn, where each Di is a disjunction of literals, called a
fundamental disjunction.
• Examples. (A B) (¬ A C ¬ D) is a DNF. (A B) (¬ A
C) (¬ C ¬ D) is a CNF. The wffs A, ¬ B, A ¬ B, and A ¬
B are both DNF and CNF.
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Notation
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Any wff has a DNF and a CNF
• For any propositional variable A we have True A ¬ A
and False A ¬ A. Both forms are DNF and CNF. For
other wffs use basic equivalences to:
1. remove conditionals,
2. move negations to the right, and
3. transform into required form. Simplify where desired.
Example.
(A B C) (A D)
¬ (A B C) (A D) (X Y ¬ X Y)
(A ¬ (B C)) (A D) (¬ (X Y) X ¬ Y)
(A ¬ B ¬ C) (A D) (¬ (X Y) ¬ X ¬ Y) (DNF)
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Example…
((A ¬ B ¬ C) A) ((A ¬ B ¬ C) D) (distribute over )
A ((A ¬ B ¬ C) D) (absorption)
A (A D) (¬ B D) (¬ C D) (distribute over ) (CNF)
A (¬ B D) (¬ C D) (absorption) (CNF).
Exercise: Transform (A B) ¬ (C D) into DNF and into CNF.
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Every Truth Function Is a Wff
• A truth function is a function whose arguments take result
values in {true, false}.
• So a truth function can be represented by a truth table. The
task is to find a wff with the same truth table.
• We can construct both a DNF and a CNF.
Technique. To construct a DNF, take each line of the table with a
true value and construct a fundamental conjunction that is true
only on that line.
To construct a CNF, take each line with a false value and
construct a fundamental disjunction that is false only on that line.
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Example
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Full CNF and Full DNF
• A DNF for a wff W is a Full DNF if each fundamental
conjunction contains the same number of literals, one for each
propositional variable of W.
• A CNF for a wff W is a Full CNF if each fundamental
disjunction contains the same number of literals, one for each
propositional variable of W.
Example. The wffs in the previous example are full DNF and full
CNF
Constructing Full DNF and Full CNF
• We can use the technique for truth functions to find a full DNF
or full CNF for any wff with the restriction that a tautology
does not have a full CNF and a contradiction does not have a
full DNF.
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Example
• True A ¬ A, which is a full DNF and a CNF, but it is not a
full CNF.
• False A ¬ A, which is a full CNF and a DNF, but it is not a
full DNF.
Alternative Constructions for Full DNF and Full CNF. Use
basic equivalences together with the following tricks to add a
propositional variable A to a wff W:
1. W W True W (A ¬ A) (W A) (W ¬ A).
2. W W False W (A ¬ A) (W A) (W ¬ A).
Example. Find a full DNF for (A ¬ B) (A C).
• Answer. (A ¬ B C) (A ¬ B ¬ C) (A C ¬ B) (A C
B), which can be simplified to: (A ¬ B C) (A ¬ B ¬ C)
(A C B),
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Example 2
Find a full CNF for ¬ A B.
Answer
(¬ A B) (¬ A ¬ B) (B A) (B ¬ A)
(¬ A B) (¬ A ¬ B) (B A).
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Negation Normal Forms(NNF)
• A formula is in NNF if ¬appears only in front of the
propositional variables.
• For every formula F there is another formula in NNF i.e. F ≡ F
´.
• NNF is Normal form that neither CNF nor DNF.
Example
(
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Solved Example on CNF and DNF
1. Consider .Convert to CNF
2. Reduce to Negative Normal Forms (NNF)
Solution
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Example#3
3. Reduce to Negative Normal Forms (NNF) the formula
Solution
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Example#4
4. Reduce to Conjunctive Normal Forms (CNF) the formula
•
Solution
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Example#5
5. Reduce to Conjunctive Normal Forms (CNF) the formula
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