Exercise 1163Logic, sets and proofs › Quantifiers and negationL1Added 3 Nov 2026
Vacuous truth
#vacuous truth#forall#empty set
Statement
Is the statement "every real number with is positive" true?
Hint
If no satisfies the hypothesis, the implication is vacuously true.
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Solution
Analysis. For any real , , so the hypothesis is never satisfied. The implication is vacuously true for every .
Conclusion. The universal statement is true (vacuously).
Remark. Vacuous truth is a subtle but important feature of universal statements over empty domains.