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Existence quantifier facts for kids

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In mathematics and logic, the existence quantifier is a quantifier used to state that a proposition is true for at least one element in the universe of discourse. The existence quantifier is commonly written as \exists (a mirrored E), and is read as "there exists". An example involving an existence quantifier is the statement "some natural number is equal to 3+5", which can be written as \exists x \in \mathbb{N},\, x = 3+5.

In general, a statement of the form \exists x \, P(x) is true if there is an x in the universe of discourse satisfying the predicate P, and is false otherwise. An existence quantifier is different from a universal quantifier, which is used to state that a proposition is true for all elements in the universe of discourse.

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