Modular Arithmetic

Idea :

12 12 1
11 1 11
10 2 10 2
9 3 9 3

8 4 8 4
7 6 5 7 6 5
8+7=3 3 - 5 = 10

The basic idea of modular arithmetic is as follows for 12 hrs clock.

3 hours after 10 o’clock is 1 o’clock (because 10 + 3 =13 and we subtract 12).
Now, 17 hours after 9 o’clock will be 2 o’clock, because 17 + 9 = 26 and we must subtract 2 x
12 = 24 to find where the hand is pointing on the clock face.
9 hours before 4 o’clock is 7 o’clock, since 4 – 9 = - 5, and now we add 12 to get the answer
7.
When we have 24-hour clock, then arithmetic will be as follows –
17 hours after 16 hours is 9 hours, since 17 + 16 = 33, and then 24 is subtracted to get the time.
Now, 11 hours before 9 hours is 22 hours (9 – 11 = - 2; then add 24 to get 22).

Congruent Modulo
Note that some numbers have the same remainder when they are divided by a particular integer.
For example, 47  5 has remainder 2 and 12  5 also has remainder 2.
This similarity helps us to define a new number relationship called congruence.

If two integers a and b have the property that a – b is divisible by another m ( m  1) then a
and b are called congruent modulo m and write a  b (mod m ) .

Example
47 ≡ 2(mod 5) and 12 ≡ 2(mod 5)
Now 47 ≡ 12(mod 5) as (47 – 12) is divisible by 5.
47 and 12 are called congruent modulo 5.

Similarly, – 16 ≡ 8 (mod 12) as – 16 – 8 is divisible by 12.

Now we look at general modular arithmetic modulo n, where n is an integer greater than 1.
1. if a ≡ b(mod n) then a – b is divisible by n.
2. if a number a leaves a remainder of r after division by n, then a ≡ r(mod n).

Some rules that modular arithmetic obeys are –

1. if a ≡ b(mod n) and c ≡ d(mod n) then
a + c ≡ b+d(mod n) and a – c ≡ b–d(mod n).
2. if a ≡ b(mod n) and c ≡ d(mod n) then ac ≡ bd(mod n).
3. a+b (mod n) ≡ b+a (mod n) [Commutative Law]
 4. Associative Laws
(a+b) + c (mod n) ≡ a + (b+c) (mod n) and (ab)c (mod n) ≡ a(bc)(mod n)
5. Distributive Laws
a(b + c) (mod n) ≡ ab + ac (mod n) and (a + b)c ≡ ac + bc(mod n)

Example 1:

Find the possible values of m that satisfy each congruence:

(a) 13 ≡ 3(mod m) (b) 15 ≡ 4(mod m)

Solution:
(a) By definition of congruence, 13 – 3 = 10 must be divisible by m. So the possible values
of m are the positive divisors of 10 : hence m ∈ { 2, 5, 10 }as by definition m  1 .
(b) Here 15 – 4 = 11 must be divisible by m. So m can only be 11.

Example 2:

If today is Wednesday, what day of the week will it be in 100 days’ time?

Solution:

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thurs Fri Sat

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Since we have numbers 0, 1, 2 , 3, 4, 5 and 6, we will do our arithmetic in modulo 7.

Today is Wednesday (i.e. day 3) hence to find 100 days later, we can write
3 + 100 = 103 ≡ 5(mod 7).

So the answer is the 5th day which is Friday.