Windiness ordering — Determine if the final comparison is entailed Premise 1: Cloudy days tend to be more windy than sunny days. Premise 2: Foggy days tend to be less windy than cloudy days. Claim (to evaluate): Sunny days tend to be less windy than foggy days.

Difficulty: Medium

Correct Answer: uncertain

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
We are comparing average windiness across weather types. Two ordered comparisons are given: cloudy vs. sunny, and foggy vs. cloudy. We must decide if these imply a third comparison, sunny vs. foggy, without additional meteorological assumptions.


Given Data / Assumptions:

  • Cloudy > Sunny (more windy).
  • Foggy < Cloudy (less windy).
  • No direct relation between Foggy and Sunny is provided.
  • “Tend to” indicates general comparisons, but still used as strict orderings for logic.


Concept / Approach:

  • If A > B and C < A, the relation between B and C is not fixed; C could still be greater than, equal to, or less than B.
  • Therefore, we cannot assert Sunny < Foggy from the premises alone.


Step-by-Step Solution:

Assign numbers to average windiness: let Sunny = 3.Choose Cloudy = 6 (Cloudy > Sunny). Then Foggy must be less than 6.Case 1: Foggy = 5 → Sunny < Foggy (claim true).Case 2: Foggy = 2 → Sunny > Foggy (claim false). Both satisfy premises, so the claim is undetermined.


Verification / Alternative check:

Inequality algebra: from Cloudy > Sunny and Foggy < Cloudy, nothing specifies Foggy vs. Sunny, hence uncertainty.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:

true / false: Each can occur under valid assignments; neither is compelled.both true and false: Not applicable to a single scenario; uncertainty reflects multiple possible consistent scenarios.


Common Pitfalls:

Assuming an implicit chain Cloudy > Foggy > Sunny without evidence. Only two comparisons are given.


Final Answer:

uncertain

More Questions from Logical Problems

Discussion & Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment!
Join Discussion