Q.(i) Find addition modulo 8 if a and b are 3 and 11 respectively.
🔒You're viewing a preview — the full solution, concept, methods & PYQ mapping are locked.
🔒 Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →Concept understanding — Modular Arithmetic
Modular Arithmetic — The Arithmetic of Remainders
You already know modular arithmetic. You just don't know you know it.
Think about a clock. When it's 10 AM and you add 5 hours, you get 3 PM — not 15 o'clock. The clock "wraps around" after 12. That wrapping is the entire idea of modular arithmetic. We care only about the remainder after division, not the full number.
The Intuition: "What's left over?"
Take any two whole numbers and divide one by the other. The result is a quotient (how many times it fits) and a remainder (what's left). Modular arithmetic is the study of that remainder.
For example: 17 divided by 5 gives quotient 3 and remainder 2. In modular language, we say:
17≡2(mod5)
Read this as: "17 is congruent to 2 modulo 5." It means 17 and 2 leave the same remainder when divided by 5.
The word "modulo" comes from Latin — meaning "with respect to the modulus." The modulus is the number you divide by (here, 5).
The Precise Definition
Let a, b, and m be integers, with m>0. We say:
a≡b(modm)
if and only if m divides (a−b) exactly — that is, a−b=m⋅k for some integer k.
Equivalently: a and b have the same remainder when divided by m.
a≡b(modm)⟺m∣(a−b)
Examples to Lock It In
| Statement | Why it's true |
|---|---|
| 23≡3(mod5) | 23−3=20, and 5 divides 20 |
| 14≡2(mod12) | 14−2=12, and 12 divides 12 |
| 100≡1(mod3) | 100−1=99, and 3 divides 99 |
| 7≡0(mod7) | 7−0=7, and 7 divides 7 |
Notice the last one: any number is congruent to 0 modulo itself. That's just saying the remainder when you divide a number by itself is 0.
What Modular Arithmetic Doesn't Care About
Two numbers that are congruent modulo m are considered "the same" for all modular purposes. So:
...,−10,−5,0,5,10,15,...
are all the same modulo 5. They form an equivalence class — a set of numbers that all share the same remainder.
A common mistake: thinking a≡b(modm) means a divided by m gives remainder b. That's only true if 0≤b<m. The definition is about the difference being divisible by m, not about the remainder itself.
Why It Matters …
Addition modulo m is defined as a⊕mb=(a+b)modm: add the two numbers and keep the remainder on division by m. Here 3+11=14, 15+6=21 and 17+13=30, reduced mod 8, 25 and 30 respectively. …
Addition modulo m is a⊕mb=(a+b)modm; applied to the three cases the results are 6, 21 and 0.
a⊕mb=(a+b)modm
where a,b are the operands and m is the modulus.
- (i) a=3, b=11, m=8:
3+11=14,14mod8=6
since 14=1×8+6. So 3⊕811=6.
- (ii) a=15, b=6, m=25:
15+6=21,21mod25=21
since 21<25. So 15⊕256=21. …
- CBSE 2025Set 465/W1XZY/41 markMCQQ.−41mod9 is (A) 5 (B) 4 (C) 3 (D) 0
›Reveal solutionSolution
−41=9(−5)+4, so the least non-negative remainder is 4, giving −41mod9=4.
amodm=r where a=mq+r and 0≤r<m (q = quotient chosen so that r stays non-negative).
- Divide and keep the remainder non-negative: −41÷9 gives a quotient of −5 because 9×(−5)=−45≤−41. …
- CBSE 2025Set 465/S/WXYZ/41 markMCQQ.The smallest positive integer (mod 11) to which 282 is congruent, is : (A) 3 (B) 7 (C) 9 (D) 17
›Reveal solutionSolution
Divide 282 by 11 and the remainder, 7, is the smallest positive integer it is congruent to mod 11.
a≡r(modm)⟺a=mq+r, 0≤r<m, where q is the quotient and r the least non-negative remainder.
- Find how many times 11 divides 282: ⌊11282⌋=25.
- Compute the multiple: 11×25=275. …
- CBSE 2023Set 465/EF1GH/41 markMCQQ.The last (unit) digit of (22)12 is :(a) 2(b) 4(c) 6(d) 8
›Reveal solutionSolution
The unit digit of 2n repeats in the cycle 2,4,8,6 (period 4); 12 is a multiple of 4, so (22)12 ends in 6.
Unit digit of an depends only on the unit digit of a. For base ending in 2: 21→2, 22→4, 23→8, 24→6, then repeats with period 4.
- The last digit of (22)12 equals the last digit of 212.
- Find 12mod4=0, i.e. 12 is an exact multiple of the cycle length 4. …
- CBSE 2019Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.In the multiplicative group of cube root of unity, the order of ω2 is : [ω is a complex cube root of unity](a) 2(b) 1(c) 4(d) 3
›Reveal solutionSolution
The order of ω2 in the multiplicative group of cube roots of unity is 3.
- The cube roots of unity are 1,ω,ω2 where ω3=1 and this set forms a group under multiplication.
- The order of an element g is the smallest positive integer m such that gm=1.
- Compute powers of ω2: (ω2)1=ω2=1. …
- CBSE 2017Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.In the multiplicative group of nth roots of unity, the inverse of ωk is (k<n) :(a) ωk1(b) ω−1(c) ωn−k(d) ωkn
›Reveal solutionSolution
In the group of nth roots of unity, (ωk)−1=ωn−k.
- The nth roots of unity form a cyclic group of order n under multiplication, with identity element 1=ω0=ωn.
- For an element ωk (k<n), we need m such that ωk⋅ωm=ωn=1, i.e. k+m≡0(modn), so m=n−k.
- Hence the inverse of ωk is ωn−k; equivalently, since all nth roots of unity lie on the unit circle, ωn−k=ωk=(ωk)−1. …
- CBSE 2017Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.The order of [7] in (Z9,+9) is :(a) 9(b) 6(c) 3(d) 1
›Reveal solutionSolution
In the cyclic group (Zn,+n), the order of element [k] equals n/gcd(k,n); here n=9,k=7 are coprime, so [7] generates the whole group and has order 9.
- (Z9,+9)={[0],[1],…,[8]} is the cyclic group of integers modulo 9 under addition, of order 9.
- For a cyclic group of order n generated by [1], the order of the element [k] is gcd(k,n)n.
- Here k=7, n=9. Compute gcd(7,9): since 7 is prime and does not divide 9, gcd(7,9)=1.
- So order of [7]=19=9. …
- CBSE 2017Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.In congruence modulo 5, {x∈Z/x=5k+2, k∈Z} represents :(a) [0](b) [5](c) [7](d) [2]
›Reveal solutionSolution
The set {x=5k+2:k∈Z} is, by definition, precisely all integers congruent to 2 modulo 5, i.e. the equivalence class [2].
- Congruence modulo 5 partitions Z into equivalence classes [0],[1],[2],[3],[4], where [r]={x∈Z:x≡r(mod5)}={x=5k+r:k∈Z}. …
- CBSE 2016Set ANNUAL1 markMCQQ.The order of −i in the multiplicative group of 4th roots of unity is :(a) 4(b) 3(c) 2(d) 1
›Reveal solutionSolution
Direct computation of successive powers of −i shows it first returns to 1 at the 4th power, so its order is 4.
- The 4th roots of unity are the solutions of z4=1: {1, i, −1, −i}, forming a group of order 4 under multiplication.
- The order of an element g in a finite group is the smallest positive integer k such that gk=e (here e=1).
- Compute powers of −i:
- (−i)1=−i=1.
- (−i)2=(−i)(−i)=i2=−1=1.
- (−i)3=(−i)2⋅(−i)=(−1)(−i)=i=1.
- (−i)4=(−i)3⋅(−i)=(i)(−i)=−i2=1.
- The smallest k for which (−i)k=1 is k=4, so the order of −i is 4. …
🎓Unlock everything free for 14 days
- ✓Full step-by-step solutions
- ✓Concept-first explanations
- ✓Methods, shortcuts & mistakes
- ✓PYQ mapping + timed mock tests
Full access for 14 days. No credit card required.