Dividing Large Numbers and Finding the Remainder

Some IIM Questions also been inserted giving deep insight into different number theory problems

Modular Arithmetic
The "mod" operator in computer languages is simply the remainder. For example, 17 mod 3 = 2 because 17 / 3 = 5 rem 2 which in turn means 17 = 3 * 5 + 2 There are some tricky issues when negative numbers are used, but that shouldn't ordinarily be necessary. In math (number theory), the term is used a little differently. The "modulus" is actually not the remainder, but the number you are dividing by; and "mod" is not an operator, but a label telling "in what sense two quantities are considered congruent, or equal." For example, we would say 17 = 11 (mod 3) (read as "17 is congruent to 11, modulo 3"), meaning that 17 and 11 both leave the SAME remainder when divided by 3. You probably won't see this usage if you are only reading about programming, but it's worth being aware of if you look deeper into the math behind it. The notation (mod 100) is common in a branch of mathematics called number theory. It refers to so-called "modular arithmetic." When it is taught in school, it is often called "clock arithmetic." The idea is the same as the one found in "casting out nines," except you will be "casting out hundreds." The idea is that if you do addition, subtraction, or multiplication, you can discard multiples of 100 either before or after the operation, or both, and you will get an answer that differs from the ordinary operation answer only by a multiple of 100. The notation is as follows: If m is a positive whole number, and a and b are any whole numbers, then we write a = b (mod m) if and only if m divides a - b. It is easy to see that: (1) a = a (mod m). (2) If a = b (mod m), then b = a (mod m). (3) If a = b (mod m) and b = c (mod m), then a = c (mod m). (4) If a = b (mod m) and c = d (mod m), then a + c = b + d (mod m). (5) If a = b (mod m) and c = d (mod m), then a - c = b - d (mod m). (6) If a = b (mod m) and c = d (mod m), then a * c = b * d (mod m). You can figure out why it is that when we are only interested in the last two decimal digits of a whole number, we can work (mod 100). You can also figure out why -4 = 1996 (mod 100). Now you can use the facts (1)-(6) (especially (6)) above to compute 1996^1996 (mod 100), as in the solution to the problem provided with the test.

Finding the Remainder when Large Number is divided

It is easy to compute the remainder left behind upon dividing, for example, 2100 by 3 using modular arithmetic. Modular arithmetic is a system of arithmetic in which numbers wrap around, or get reset once they reach a certain value. You can think of it as arithmetic using a number circle as opposed to a number line. Consider a circle having circumference 2 units:

First, notice that if you start at the point marked 0 and move 2 units clockwise, you would return to the point marked zero. Also note that, if we start at 0, moving 3 units clockwise and 1 unit clockwise will result in reaching the same destination. We represent this fact using the notation, 31(mod2), which is read as 3 is congruent to 1 modulo 2. This is equivalent to saying that 3 and one leave the same remainder when divided by 2, or that (31) is an integral multiple of 2. Hence, the statement xy(moda) is equivalent to the following statements: 1. 2.

xy is an integral multiple of a, and x and y leave the same remainder upon division by a.

Modular arithmetic is very useful because of some of the properties of congruence relations. If a1b1(modn) and a2b2(modn), then the following properties will hold true.

(a1+a2)(b1+b2)(modn) (a1a2)(b1b2)(modn) (a1a2)(b1b2)(modn)

We will find the last property to be particularly useful.

Example 1: Remainder upon dividing 2100 by 3

First, we note that 21(mod3). Because of the last property, this implies that 2100(1)100(mod3). Because (1)100=1, the remainder will be 1. This can be verified using Wolfram|Alpha.

Example 2: Remainder upon dividing 72010 by 25 First, we note that 72010=491005. Now, because 491(mod25), 491005(1)1005(mod25) 4910051(mod25)

49100524(mod25)
In the last step, I added 25 to the right side of the congruence. I was able to do so because of the first property. Hence, the remainder on dividing 72010 by 25 is 24.

What is the remainder when 7^100 is divided by 13? Give a general strategy with explanation for this type of problem.
a mod n means the remainder that a leaves when divided by n. So, for example, 20 mod 13 = -19 mod 13 = 7 (20 and -19 differ by a multiple of 13, namely 39 = 3*13. 7 and -19 differ by 2*13, and so on. Can you give another number x with x mod 13 = 7 ?), or another example: 4 mod 3 = -2 mod 3 = 998 mod 3 = 1? You say "4 is congruent to 1 modulo 3." When adding and multiplying modulo n, you can always replace a number x by another number y as long as x is congruent to y modulo n: (x*y) mod n = (x mod n) * (y mod n). Example: Compute 11^2 mod 13. First look at a smaller number. 11 mod 13 = -2 mod 13, because 11-(-2) = 1*13. Now replace 11 with -2 everywhere: 11^2 mod 13 = (-2)^2 mod 13 = 4 mod 13 = 4. Thus we conclude that 11^2 mod 13 = 4. Check: 11^2 = 121 = 4+9*13, so indeed 11^2 and 4 differ by a multiple of 13. For powers, you use "Fermat's little theorem": n always divides a^n-a, or a^n mod n = a mod n. (Check some examples! The proof of this is easy with a bit of higher math, but I think it is over your head now.) Now back to your problem: 7^100 mod 13 = ? First we know that 13 divides 7^13-7 = 7*(7^12-1) as above. 13 of course doesn't divide 7, so it divides 7^12-1. So 7^12 mod 13 = 1 mod 13. Thus 7^24 mod 13 = (7^12*7^12) mod 13 = (7^12 mod 13)^2 = (1 mod 13)^2 = 1 And 7^36 mod 13 = (7^24*7^12) mod 13 = ... = 1 Can you complete the steps alone? You see this property will hold for ANY multiple of 12. 7^96 mod 13 = 7^(8*12) mod 13 = 1. We are almost there.

So 7^100 mod 13 = 7^96 mod 13 * 7^4 mod 13 = 49^2 mod 13 = ... (you can surely continue from here alone, hint: 52 = 4*13). Just make sure that the number at the end lies between 0 and 12. That number is your solution.

Find the remainder when 4444^4444 is divided by 9....Help!?

4444 = 4437 + 7 = 9 * 493 + 7 = 7(mod 9) So, 4444^4444 = 7^7 (mod 9) This is still a very large number, so finding the remainder upon division by 9 will be difficult. So lets try to break it down further. 7^7 = 7^6 * 7 = (7^2)^3 * 7 = 49^3 * 7 49 = 45 + 4 =9*5+4 = 4 (mod 9) So, 49^3 * 7 = 4^3 * 7 (mod 9) = 64 * 7 (mod 9) 64 = 63 + 1 =9*7+1 = 1 (mod 9) So, 64 * 7 = 1 * 7(mod 9) = 7 (mod 9) So, the remainder you get when you divide 4444^4444 by 9 is 7.

How to find the Last digit of an Exponential number

There is no formula but there is a pattern that will show you how to find the last digit. For example "What is the last digit of 7358?" Suppose that you are going to construct a table with 358 rows and record last digit of the the 358 powers of 7. Start the table, either using either your calculator or doing the arithmetic by hand. Power of 7 Last digit

71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79

7 9 3 1 7 9 3 1 7

Notice the pattern of the last digits. They are 7,9,3,1,7,9,3,1,7,9,... The last digit repeats in a pattern that is 4 digits long, 7,9,3,1. If you complete the table for 358 rows how many times will this pattern repeat? 358 divided by 4 is 89 with a remainder of 2 so the pattern will repeat 89 times and then there are two more rows. These rows then have 7 and 9 in the second column so the last digit of 7358 is 9.

Question-IIM For what value of 'n' will the remainder of 351n and 352n be the same when divided by 7? 1. 2 2. 3 3. 6 4. 4 Correct Choice is (2) and the Correct Answer is 3

Explanatory Answer When 351 is divided by 7, the remainder is 1. When 352 is divided by 7, the remainder is 2. Let us look at answer choice (1), n = 2 When 3512 is divided by 7, the remainder will be 12 = 1. When 3522 is divided by 7, the remainder will be 22 = 4. So when n = 2, the remainders are different. When n = 3, When 3513 is divided by 7, the remainder will be 13 = 1. When 3523 is divided by 7, the remainder will be 23 = 8. As 8 is greater than 7, divide 8 again by 7, the new remainder is 1. So when n = 3, both 351n and 352n will have the same remainder when divided by 7.

Number Theory : Test of Divisibility Question

Divisibility of a large number

Question
The largest number amongst the following that will perfectly divide 101 100 - 1 is 1. 2. 3. 4. 100 10,000 100100 100,000

Correct Choice is (2) and Correct Answer is 10,000

Explanatory Answer
The easiest way to solve such problems for CAT purposes is trial and error or by back substituting answers in the choices given. 101 = 10201. 2 101 - 1 = 10200. This is divisible by 100. Similarly try for 101 - 1 = 1030301 - 1 = 1030300. So you can safely conclude that (101 - 1) to (101 - 1) will be divisible by 100. 10 99 (101 - 1) to (101 - 1) will be divisible by 1000. 100 Therefore, (101 - 1) will be divisible by 10,000.
1 9 3 2

Number Theory : Remainders, Finding Divisors

Remainders of division of different numbers by the same divisor

Question
A number when divided by a divisor leaves a remainder of 24. When twice the original number is divided by the same divisor, the remainder is 11. What is the value of the divisor? 1. 2. 3. 4. 13 59 35 37

Correct Choice - (4). Correct Answer is 37

Explanatory Answer
Let the original number be 'a' Let the divisor be 'd' Let the quotient of the division of a by d be 'x'

Therefore, we can write the relation as i.e., a = dx + 24

= x and the remainder is 24.

When twice the original number is divided by d, 2a is divided by d. We know that a = dx + 24. Therefore, 2a = 2dx + 48

The problem states that leaves a remainder of 11. 2dx is perfectly divisible by d and will therefore, not leave a remainder. The remainder of 11 was obtained by dividing 48 by d. When 48 is divided by 37, the remainder that one will obtain is 11. Hence, the divisor is 37.

Number Theory : Remainders, Divisors

Remainders of division of two different numbers and their sum by the same divisor

Question

When 242 is divided by a certain divisor the remainder obtained is 8. When 698 is divided by the same divisor the remainder obtained is 9. However, when the sum of the two numbers 242 and 698 is divided by the divisor, the remainder obtained is 4. What is the value of the divisor? 1. 2. 3. 4. 11 17 13 23

Correct Choice is (3) and Correct Answer is 13

Explanatory Answer
Let the divisor be d. When 242 is divided by the divisor, let the quotient be 'x' and we know that the remainder is 8. Therefore, 242 = xd + 8 Similarly, let y be the quotient when 698 is divided by d. Then, 698 = yd + 9. 242 + 698 = 940 = xd + yd + 8 + 9 940 = xd + yd + 17 As xd and yd are divisible by d, the remainder when 940 is divided by d should have been 17.

However, as the question states that the remainder is 4, it would be possible only when If the remainder obtained is 4 when 17 is divided by d, then d has to be 13.

leaves a remainder of 4.

Number Theory : Division of Polynomial

Remainders of division of a polynomial

Question
What number should be subtracted from x3 + 4x2 - 7x + 12 if it is to be perfectly divisible by x + 3? 1. 2. 3. 4. 42 39 13 None of these

Correct Choice is (1) and Correct Answer is 42

Explanatory Answer

According to remainder theorem when

3 2

, then the remainder is f(-a).

In this case, as x + 3 divides x + 4x - 7x + 12 - k perfectly (k being the number to be subtracted), the remainder is 0 when the value of x is substituted by -3. i.e., (-3) + 4(-3) - 7(-3) + 12 - k = 0 or -27 + 36 + 21 + 12 = k or k = 42
3 2

Number Theory : Division of factorials, remainders

The highest power of 10 that can divide a factorial. Number of trailing zeroes.

Question
A person starts multiplying consecutive positive integers from 20. How many numbers should he multiply before the will have result that will end with 3 zeroes? 1. 2. 3. 4. 11 10 6 5

Correct Choice is (3) and correct answer is 6

Explanatory Answer
A number will end in 3 zeroes when it is multiplied by 3 10s. To get a 10, one needs a 5 and a 2. Therefore, this person should multiply till he encounters three 5s and three 2s. 20 has one 5 (5 * 4) and 25 has two 5s (5 * 5). 20 has two 2s (5 * 2 * 2) and 22 has one 2 (11 * 2). Therefore, he has to multiply till 25 to get three 5s and three 2s, that will make three 10s. So, he has to multiply from 20 to 25 i.e. 6 numbers.

Number Theory : Number of factors

Question
What is the smallest number that has exactly 12 factors? 1. 2. 3. 4. 211 60 120 96

Correct Choice is (2) and Correct Answer is 60

Explanatory Answer
Number of the form p q r (where p q, r are primer) has (a + 1) (b + 1) (c + 1) factors. So, if some number has 12 factors (a + 1) (b + 1) (c + 1)should be 12. 12 can be written as 12 or 6 x 2 => 4 x 3 => 2 x 2 x 3 If a number has to have 12 factors, it should be in one of the following forms, 11 p => 11 + 1 factor 5 1 p q => 6 x 2 = 12 factors 3 2 p q => 4 x 3 = 12 factors 2 1 ` p q r => 3 x 2 x 1 = 12 factors Let us deduce the smallest possible number in each form 11 11 p => 2 = 2048 5 1 5 p q => 2 x 3 = 96 3 2 3 2 p q => 2 x 3 = 72
a b c

p q r => 2 x 3 x 5 = 60 Smallest number that has exactly 12 factors = 60

2 1 1

Number properties : Prime Numbers

Question
If f(x) is the number of primes less than or equal to x, find the value of f(90) - f(80). 1. 2. 3. 4. 3 2 1 4

Correct Choice is (2) and Correct Answer is 2

Explanatory Answer
f(x) is a prime number < x f(90) = Number of primes < 90 f(80) = Number of primes < 80 f(90) - f(80) = Number of primes between 80 and 90, both inclusive. => The prime numbers between 80 and 90 are 83 and 89. f(90) - f(80) = 2

Number Theory : Number of Factors

Question
N is the smallest number that has 5 factors. How many factors does (N - 1) have?? a. b. c. d. 2 3 4 5

Correct Choice is (c) and the Correct Answer is 4

Explanatory Answer
A number that has 5 factors has to be of the form p where 'p' is a prime number. The smallest such number is 2 = 16 Therefore, N - 1 = 15. The factors of 15 are 1, 3, 5, 15. So, N - 1 has 4 factors.
4 4

Number Theory : Remainders of division by 6

Finding remainders when sum of powers of 9 are divided by 6

Question
What is the remainder when 91 + 92 + 93 + .... + 98 is divided by 6?> 1. 3

2. 3. 4.

2 0 5

Correct Choice is (3) and Correct Answer is 0

Explanatory Answer
6 is an even multiple of 3. When any even multiple of 3 is divided by 6, it will leave a remainder of 0. Or in other words it is perfectly divisible by 6. On the contrary, when any odd multiple of 3 is divided by 6, it will leave a remainder of 3. For e.g when 9 an odd multiple of 3 is divided by 6, you will get a remainder of 3. 9 is an odd multiple of 3. And all powers of 9 are odd multiples of 3. Therefore, when each of the 8 powers of 9 listed above are divided by 6, each of them will leave a remainder of 3. The total value of the remainder = 3 + 3 + .... + 3 (8 remainders) = 24. 24 is divisible by 6. Hence, it will leave no remainder. Hence, the final remainder when the expression 9 + 9 + 9 + .... + 9 is divided by 6 will be equal to '0'.
1 2 3 8

Number Properties : Number of factors

Question
Find the smallest number that has exactly 18 factors. 1. 2. 3. 4. 288 768 180 None of the above

Correct Choice is (3) and Correct Answer is 180

Explanatory Answer
Formula for finding the number of factors of a number m is very simple. a b c If m can be prime factorized as p q r , m has (a + 1) (b + 1) (c + 1) factors. Let N be the smallest number that can have 18 factors. Let N = p q r (p, q, r being primes) No of factors = (a + 1) (b + 1) (c + 1) = 18 17 18 can be written as 18 x 1 => N can be p 17 The smallest possible number = 2 18 => 2 x 9 => N = pq Smallest possible number 8 => 2 x 3 [smallest prime allotted to high power] => 256 x 3 = 768 18 => 3 x 6 => N = p q 5 2 Smallest number = 2 x 3 => 32 x 9 = 288 18 => 2 x 3 x 3 => N = p q r 2 2 Smallest number = 2 x 3 x 5 => 36 x 5 = 180
2 2 2 5 8 a b c

Smallest possible number overall = 180

What are the last five digits of 7777777^7777777?

The idea is that you want 7777777^7777777 (mod 100000). As you (correctly) stated, this is the same as 77777^7777777 (mod 100000). In general, the efficient method for computing a modular exponent like the one above is to start by repeatedly squaring, and reducing after each square, recording only the last five digits, like so: 77777^2 = 61729 (mod 100000) 77777^4 = 61729^2 = 69441 (mod 100000) 77777^8 = 69441^2 = 52481 (mod 100000) etc. Then you see which powers you need, like so: 77777 = 1 + 16 + 64 + 128 + 256 + 512 + 1024 + 2048 + 8192 + 65536 (This last is the same as writing the exponent in binary.) And then you multiply together the appropriate powers, reducing mod 100000 after each product, as in 77777^77777 = 77777^1 * 77777^16 * 77777^64 * .... Oh! Except I forgot that you wanted the exponent 7777777 rather than 77777. I'll let you convert that one into binary (or a sum of powers of two). Notice that each squaring and each product can be done on the ten-digit calculator, since each is multiplying two five-digit numbers. Then you only record the last five digits, and you go on. This technique is known by mathematicians as "modular exponentiation."

How to Find the Last Digits of a Positive Power of Two

By Rick Regan (Published October 14th, 2009)
A common exercise in number theory is to find the last digits of a large power, like 2 computer. 2
2009 2009

, without using a

is a 605-digit number, so evaluating it by hand is out of the question. So how do you find its

last digits efficiently?

Modular arithmetic, and in particular, modular exponentiation, comes to the rescue. It provides an efficient way to find the last m digits of a power, by hand, with perhaps only a little help from a pocket calculator. All you need to do is compute the power incrementally, modulo 10 . In this article, I will discuss three methods all based on modular exponentiation and the laws of exponents for finding the ending digits of a positive power of two. The techniques I use are easily adapted to powers of any number.
m

1. Ad Hoc Exponentiation
In this method, you reduce a power of two modulo 10 repeatedly until you get a congruent power, or product of powers, for which the end digits are known or easily computed. You use your knowledge of smaller powers of two, in conjunction with the power of a power and product of powers rules, to set up easier sub problems to solve. You start by dividing the exponent of 2 by the exponent of a known, smaller power of two, 2 , getting a quotient q and a remainder r. You then rewrite 2 as (2 ) 2 .
n a q r n a m

Finding the Last Digit

Ive categorized two sub methods of the ad hoc method that make it more systematic when dealing specifically with powers of two. I call them the powers of two method and the powers of six method.
Powers of Two Method

In the powers of two method, you reduce a power of two by using a power of two ending in 2. This reduces the problem at each stage to a smaller power of two, giving the method a recursive feel. The intermediate powers of two are in effect nested. For example, lets find the last digit of 2 So , showing that 2
405 81 17 2009 2009

, using 2 (32) to reduce the problem at each step:

ends in 2.

The intermediate results 2

, 2 , 2 , and 2 are all congruent, ending in 2. If you recognize this along the
17

way, you can stop. For example, if you happen to know that 2 is 131,072, you can stop after the third step.

Any power of two ending in 2 works. Heres how the process goes when using 2 (512): Using 2 , there is one less step, but the arithmetic is slightly harder (division by 9 instead of division by 5).
Powers of Six Method
9

In the powers of six method, you reduce a power of two using a power of two that ends in 6. This introduces powers of six, which have to be handled separately and combined with the remainder powers of two. For example, lets do our example with 2 = 16. The first step would give:
4

But wait! All powers of six end in 6 (6 times 6 mod 10 is 6, and around it goes), so we just turned this into a very simple problem: .

So, while it doesnt have the elegance of the powers of two method, the powers of six method is simpler.

Finding the Last Two Digits

The powers of six method does not apply to mod 100, but the powers of two method does indirectly. Although there is no power of two that ends in 02, we can use any two-digit ending that is a power of two; we just convert it to 2 using the laws of exponents. Lets go back to our example, 2
22 2009 y

. Consulting a table of positive powers of two, find a power of two that ends

in 04; for example, 2 (4,194,304). Lets use this to reduce our problem at each step:

Finding the Last m Digits

For the last m digits, find an m-digit power of two (m digits including leading zeros) greater than or equal to 2 and convert it to 2 as above. Of course, the remainders will become larger and larger as the modulus increases.
m y

2. Successive Squaring
The method of successive squaring, also called repeated squaring or binary exponentiation, is a very systematic way to do modular exponentiation. Its a generic four step process applicable to any base and modulus, but heres how to use it to compute 2 mod 10 specifically: 1. 2. 3. 4. Rewrite 2 so that n is a sum of powers of two (essentially, convert n to binary). Rewrite 2 using the product of powers rule. Create a list of powers 2 i mod 10 , by repeatedly squaring the prior result. Combine, with multiplication mod 10 , the powers in the list that make up 2 . This process is independent of the number of ending digits m, although you have to deal with bigger and bigger numbers as m increases.
m n 2 m n n n m

Example: Find the Last Digit of 22009

Lets use this method to find the last digit of 2 1. 2. 3. (I wrote out the whole list for completeness, but it was unnecessary to go beyond 2 . Again, thats because all powers of six end in 6.) 4. Combine the required powers:
4 2009

2 2

2009

=2 =2

1024 + 512 + 256 + 128 + 64 + 16 + 8 + 1

2009

1024

512

256

128

2 2 2 2

64

16

Create a list of powers of two raised to powers of two, mod 10:

Example: Find the Last Two Digits of 22009

Lets use this method to find the last two digits of 2 1. 2. 3. (Notice that the powers in this list cycle after a point, so it is not necessary to compute them all.) 4. Combine the required powers: 2 2
2009 2009

=2 =2

1024 + 512 + 256 + 128 + 64 + 16 + 8 + 1

2009

1024

512

256

128

2 2 2 2

64

16

Create a list of powers of two raised to powers of two, mod 100:

(I could have used negative numbers in the intermediate steps to make the math easier; for example, -4 instead of 96. Both are congruent mod 100.)

3. Cyclic Powers
In this method, you exploit the fact that the ending m digits of the positive powers of two repeat in cycles; specifically, cycles of length 45 the same ending m digits. There are two ways to use the cycle information, in techniques I call the table method and the base power method.
Table Method
m-1 m m-1

, starting at 2 . Powers of two that differ in their exponents by 45

have

In the table method, you compute the powers of two mod 10 in sequence, until the ending digits cycle. You label entries sequentially starting at m, wrapping around 0 to end at m 1. Ive created tables for the last one, two, and three ending digits; in other words, tables for powers of two mod 10, mod 100, and mod 1000. To find where in the cycle your power 2 falls, compute n mod 45 n/(45
m-1 n n m-1

, or equivalently, find the remainder of

). The last m digits of 2 are the digits in the table with the label corresponding to that remainder.
2009

For example, lets find the last digit of 2 and

. The last digit of the positive powers of two cycles with length 4,

. According to the table, a remainder of 1 corresponds to a last digit of 2.

2009

Almost as simply, we can find the last two digits of 2 with length 20, and ending digits 12.

. The last two digits of the positive powers of two cycle

. According to the table, a remainder of 9 corresponds to the

Finding the Last m Digits

The table method works for any number of ending digits, but beyond two or three, is impractical. The tables grow large, by a factor of five for each additional ending digit.
Base Power Method

Every power of two 2 , mod 10 , is congruent to some power of two in the first instance of the cycle; that is, a power of two between 2 and 2
m (m + 45m 1 1)

. You need to determine which power of two in this range it is

what I call thebase power of two and then use another method to find its ending digits. You can find the base power of two directly: it is 2 45
m-1 m+j

, where j is an offset given by the expression n-m (mod

).
2009

For example, lets find the last digit of 2

, so the base power of two is 2

1+0

=2 =

2. Trivially, we can see the ending digit is 2.

For the last two digits of 2

2009

, compute

. The base power of two is 2

2+7

= 2 , which

is small enough to compute directly: 512. The last two digits are 12.

Finding the Last m Digits

The base power method works well for any number of ending digits, assuming n is greater than 45
m-1

Cheating
I said find the last digits without using a computer, right? I wanted to verify my work, so I used PARI/GP to compute 2
2009

. It took an instant here it is:

58,784,291,598,041,831,640,721,059,900,297,317,581,942,666,346,941,194,264, 455,308,125,479,232,583,289,360,069,460,965,699,405,121,019,824,433,389,516, 158,094,000,492,490,796,188,432,969,007,685,435,732,643,092,034,554,442,399, 887,360,352,654,923,898,902,974,171,610,618,912,504,957,328,187,117,386,950, 842,341,026,317,332,718,773,233,103,358,237,779,148,190,179,650,358,079,135, 564,562,516,081,648,810,332,848,214,481,400,042,754,868,418,296,221,651,998, 157,278,605,568,219,649,390,953,792,425,227,268,163,704,976,021,381,769,156, 258,409,778,685,642,966,081,035,151,287,502,869,585,844,829,824,788,935,390, 157,871,063,324,138,385,197,912,084,049,961,962,094,914,858,370,754,777,898, 867,719,950,514,578,646,749,211,908,564,621,201,347,904,089,822,990,746,021, 295,498,658,798,312,326,238,643,788,303,040,512

Summary
The three methods Ive shown are efficient ways to do modular exponentiation, unlike the straightforward method, which requires n-1 multiplications to compute 2 mod 10 . The three methods provide shortcuts to the answer, exploiting knowledge of the laws of exponents and the cycling of ending digits. Which method should you use? The ad hoc method is the least systematic but allows for case-by-case optimization. The method of successive squaring is the most systematic but may be overkill for certain problems. Learn all three methods to get a deeper understanding, then decide which one you like. For finding the last digit, I like the ad hoc powers of six method. It is the quickest.
n m

Exercises
For these exercises, use any method you like or all three if youre feeling ambitious: 1. 2. Find the last digit of 2 Find the last digit of 2
497

20000

3. 4. 5. 6.

Find the last two digits of 2 Find the last two digits of 2

613

512

Find the last three digits of 2 Find the last three digits of 2

129

2009

Answers
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 2 6 92 96 912 512

Q Ans

Find the remainder when (12371^56 + 34)^28 is divided by 111. 111 = 3*37. Solve the problem for 3 and 37, then combine the answers.

12371 = -1 (mod 3) so 12371^56 = (-1)^56 = 1 (mod 3) Then 12371^56 + 34 = -1 (mod 3), and so (12371^56 + 34)^28 = (-1)^28 = 1 (mod 3) Now for the modulus 37, 12371 = 13 (mod 37) 12371^56 = 13^56 (mod 37) To find 13^56, compute in order 13^i where i = 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 14, 28, and 56, by, at each step, either squaring or multiplying by 13. Reduce modulo 37 after each step. That keeps the numbers small. That gives you 12371^56 = 16 (mod 37) Now add 34, and you are back to powers of 13. Notice that you have 13^28 already calculated as the next-tolast step of the previous computation. Now find a number less than 111 that is congruent to 33 modulo 37 and congruent to 1 modulo 3, and you'll have your answer.

Counting Methods : Combinatorics

Number of two-digit, three-digit positive integers

Question

How many keystrokes are needed to type numbers from 1 to 1000? 1. 2. 3. 4. 3001 2893 2704 2890

Correct Choice is (2) and Correct Answer is 2893

Explanatory Answer
While typing numbers from 1 to 1000, you have 9 single digit numbers from 1 to 9. Each of them require one keystroke. That is 9 key strokes. There are 90 two-digit numbers, from 10 to 99. Each of these numbers require 2 keystrokes. Therefore, one requires 180 keystrokes to type the 2 digit numbers. There are 900 three-digit numbers, from 100 to 999. Each of these numbers require 3 keystrokes. Therefore, one requires 2700 keystrokes to type these 3 digit numbers. Then 1000 is a four-digit number which requires 4 keystrokes. Totally, therefore, one requires 9 + 180 + 2700 + 4 = 2893 keystrokes.