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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 xx with x2<0x^2<0 is positive" true?

Hint

If no xx satisfies the hypothesis, the implication is vacuously true.

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Solution

Analysis. For any real xx, x2≥0x^2\ge0, so the hypothesis x2<0x^2<0 is never satisfied. The implication (x2<0⇒x>0)(x^2<0\Rightarrow x>0) is vacuously true for every xx.

Conclusion. The universal statement is true (vacuously).

Remark. Vacuous truth is a subtle but important feature of universal statements over empty domains.