Exercise 2.3: Modular Arithmetic
A complete guide with questions and step-by-step solutions.
Questions
- Find the least positive value of $x$ such that
- $71 \equiv x \pmod{8}$
- $78 + x \equiv 3 \pmod{5}$
- $89 \equiv (x+3) \pmod{4}$
- $96 \equiv \frac{x}{7} \pmod{5}$
- $5x \equiv 4 \pmod{6}$
- If $x$ is congruent to 13 modulo 17, then $7x-3$ is congruent to which number modulo 17?
- Solve $5x \equiv 4 \pmod{6}$
- Solve $3x - 2 \equiv 0 \pmod{11}$
- What is the time 100 hours after 7 a.m.?
- What is the time 15 hours before 11 p.m.?
- Today is Tuesday. My uncle will come after 45 days. In which day will my uncle be coming?
- Prove that $2^n + 6 \times 9^n$ is always divisible by 7 for any positive integer $n$.
- Find the remainder when $2^{81}$ is divided by 17.
- The duration of flight travel from Chennai to London through British Airways is approximately 11 hours. The airplane begins its journey on Sunday at 23:30 hours. If the time at Chennai is four and half hours ahead of London's time, then find the time at London, when the flight lands at London Airport.
Questions with Detailed Solutions
- Find the least positive value of $x$ such that...
(i) $71 \equiv x \pmod{8}$
To find $x$, we find the remainder when 71 is divided by 8.
$71 = 8 \times 8 + 7$. The remainder is 7.
The least positive value of $x$ is 7.
(ii) $78 + x \equiv 3 \pmod{5}$
First, reduce 78 modulo 5: $78 = 15 \times 5 + 3$, so $78 \equiv 3 \pmod{5}$.
Substitute this into the congruence: $3 + x \equiv 3 \pmod{5}$.
Subtract 3 from both sides: $x \equiv 0 \pmod{5}$.
The congruence means $x$ is a multiple of 5. The least positive value is 5.
The least positive value of $x$ is 5.
(iii) $89 \equiv (x+3) \pmod{4}$
First, reduce 89 modulo 4: $89 = 22 \times 4 + 1$, so $89 \equiv 1 \pmod{4}$.
Substitute this: $1 \equiv x+3 \pmod{4}$.
Subtract 3 from both sides: $1 - 3 \equiv x \pmod{4}$, which gives $-2 \equiv x \pmod{4}$.
To find the least positive value, we add the modulus: $x \equiv -2 + 4 \equiv 2 \pmod{4}$.
The least positive value of $x$ is 2.
(iv) $96 \equiv \frac{x}{7} \pmod{5}$
First, reduce 96 modulo 5: $96 = 19 \times 5 + 1$, so $96 \equiv 1 \pmod{5}$.
Substitute this: $1 \equiv \frac{x}{7} \pmod{5}$.
Multiply both sides by 7: $7 \times 1 \equiv x \pmod{5}$, which gives $7 \equiv x \pmod{5}$.
Reduce 7 modulo 5: $7 = 1 \times 5 + 2$, so $x \equiv 2 \pmod{5}$.
The least positive value of $x$ is 2.
(v) $5x \equiv 4 \pmod{6}$
We can rewrite $5 \pmod{6}$ as $5 \equiv -1 \pmod{6}$.
Substitute this: $-1 \cdot x \equiv 4 \pmod{6}$, which is $-x \equiv 4 \pmod{6}$.
Multiply by -1: $x \equiv -4 \pmod{6}$.
To find the least positive value, add the modulus: $x \equiv -4 + 6 \equiv 2 \pmod{6}$.
The least positive value of $x$ is 2. - If $x$ is congruent to 13 modulo 17, then $7x-3$ is congruent to which number modulo 17?
We are given $x \equiv 13 \pmod{17}$.
We want to find the value of $7x - 3 \pmod{17}$.
Substitute $x=13$ into the expression: $7(13) - 3 = 91 - 3 = 88$.
Now, we find the remainder when 88 is divided by 17.
$88 = 17 \times 5 + 3$. The remainder is 3.
$7x - 3$ is congruent to 3 modulo 17. - Solve $5x \equiv 4 \pmod{6}$
This is the same problem as 1(v). We are looking for the general solution.
We have $5x \equiv 4 \pmod{6}$.
Since $5 \equiv -1 \pmod{6}$, we can write $-x \equiv 4 \pmod{6}$.
Multiplying by -1, we get $x \equiv -4 \pmod{6}$.
To make the result positive, we add the modulus: $x \equiv -4 + 6 \pmod{6}$, which simplifies to $x \equiv 2 \pmod{6}$.
The solution is $x \equiv 2 \pmod{6}$. - Solve $3x - 2 \equiv 0 \pmod{11}$
First, rewrite the congruence: $3x \equiv 2 \pmod{11}$.
To solve for $x$, we need to find the multiplicative inverse of 3 modulo 11. We are looking for a number $k$ such that $3k \equiv 1 \pmod{11}$.
By testing values: $3 \times 4 = 12$, and $12 \equiv 1 \pmod{11}$. So, the inverse of 3 is 4.
Multiply both sides of the congruence by 4:
$4 \times (3x) \equiv 4 \times 2 \pmod{11}$
$12x \equiv 8 \pmod{11}$
Since $12 \equiv 1 \pmod{11}$, this simplifies to $1 \cdot x \equiv 8 \pmod{11}$.
The solution is $x \equiv 8 \pmod{11}$. - What is the time 100 hours after 7 a.m.?
We are working with a 24-hour cycle, so we use modulo 24.
First, find the remainder of 100 hours when divided by 24.
$100 = 4 \times 24 + 4$.
This means 100 hours is equivalent to 4 full days and 4 extra hours.
The new time will be 4 hours after the starting time of 7 a.m.
Time = 7 a.m. + 4 hours = 11 a.m.
The time will be 11 a.m. - What is the time 15 hours before 11 p.m.?
It's helpful to use a 24-hour clock format. 11 p.m. is 23:00.
We need to calculate the time 15 hours before 23:00.
Time = 23:00 - 15 hours = 8:00.
8:00 in 24-hour format is 8 a.m.
The time will be 8 a.m. - Today is Tuesday. My uncle will come after 45 days. In which day will my uncle be coming?
The days of the week repeat in a cycle of 7, so we use modulo 7.
Let's assign numbers to the days: Sunday=0, Monday=1, Tuesday=2, ..., Saturday=6.
Today is Tuesday, which is day 2.
We need to find out what day it will be in 45 days. We calculate $45 \pmod{7}$.
$45 = 6 \times 7 + 3$. So, $45 \equiv 3 \pmod{7}$.
This means 45 days is equivalent to 3 days past the start of a week.
The final day will be (Current Day + 45 days) $\pmod{7}$.
Day = $(2 + 3) \pmod{7} = 5 \pmod{7}$.
Day 5 corresponds to Friday.
The uncle will be coming on a Friday. - Prove that $2^n + 6 \times 9^n$ is always divisible by 7 for any positive integer $n$.
To prove divisibility by 7, we need to show that $2^n + 6 \times 9^n \equiv 0 \pmod{7}$.
Let's reduce the bases (6 and 9) modulo 7.
$6 \equiv -1 \pmod{7}$
$9 \equiv 2 \pmod{7}$
Now, substitute these into the expression:
$2^n + 6 \times 9^n \equiv 2^n + (-1) \times (2^n) \pmod{7}$
This simplifies to $2^n - 2^n \pmod{7}$, which is $0 \pmod{7}$.
Since the expression is congruent to 0 modulo 7, it is always divisible by 7.
The statement is proven. - Find the remainder when $2^{81}$ is divided by 17.
We need to compute $2^{81} \pmod{17}$.
We can use Fermat's Little Theorem, which states that if $p$ is a prime number, then for any integer $a$ not divisible by $p$, we have $a^{p-1} \equiv 1 \pmod{p}$.
Here, $p=17$ (a prime) and $a=2$ (not divisible by 17). Therefore, $2^{17-1} \equiv 1 \pmod{17}$, which means $2^{16} \equiv 1 \pmod{17}$.
Now, we express the exponent 81 in terms of 16: $81 = 16 \times 5 + 1$.
So, $2^{81} = 2^{16 \times 5 + 1} = (2^{16})^5 \times 2^1$.
Now we apply the congruence:
$2^{81} \equiv (1)^5 \times 2^1 \pmod{17}$
$2^{81} \equiv 1 \times 2 \pmod{17}$
$2^{81} \equiv 2 \pmod{17}$
The remainder is 2. - The duration of flight travel... find the time at London, when the flight lands...
Let's break down the problem into steps:
1. Calculate Arrival Time in Chennai's Time Zone:
Departure Time (Chennai): Sunday, 23:30
Flight Duration: 11 hours
Arrival Time = 23:30 Sunday + 11 hours
23:30 + 0:30 = 00:00 Monday (10 hours 30 mins remaining)
00:00 Monday + 10 hours 30 mins = 10:30 Monday.
So, the flight lands at a time corresponding to 10:30 on Monday in Chennai.
2. Convert Arrival Time to London's Time Zone:
Time Difference: Chennai is 4.5 hours AHEAD of London.
This means: London Time = Chennai Time - 4 hours 30 minutes.
London Landing Time = 10:30 Monday - 4 hours 30 minutes
10:30 - 4:30 = 6:00.
The flight will land at 06:00 on Monday at London Airport.