Necessary and sufficient conditions                   Instructor: Oscar Clemotte

Necessary conditions are like minimun requirements.

A is a necessary condition of B if and only if B cannot occur without the occurrence of A.

Example: Oxygen is a necessary condition for fire, but not sufficient.

 

Sufficient conditions, instead, are enough to bring about a particular event or property.

A is a sufficient condition of B if and only if whenever A occurs, B also occurs.

Example: Sugar is a sufficient condition for sweetness.

 

Exercises

Directions:  Label the relationship between the given examples as either:

(1)  Necessary (but NOT sufficient),

(2)  Sufficient (but NOT necessary),

(3)  Neither necessary nor sufficient.  

 

1.  Fire is a ______________ condition for oxygen.  

2.  Striking a match is a ______________ condition for lighting a match.  

3.  Sweetness is a _______________ condition for sugar.

4.  Five nickels is a ___________ condition for twenty-five cents.  

5.  Blackness is a _____________ condition for being a raven.  

6.  Being at least 15 years of age is a _____________  condition for being 25 years of age.

7.  Mortality is a _____________ condition for being a human.  

8.  Yellowness is a ________________ condition for being a banana.  

9. A banana is a _____________ condition for yellowness.

10.  Being a flower is a _______________ condition for being a rose.  

11. Being a bachelor is a _______________ condition for an unmarried adult male.