TAOCP 1.2.4 Exercise 8

By definition (1), $x \bmod y = x - y \lfloor x/y \rfloor$ when $y \ne 0$, and $x \bmod 0 = x$.

Section 1.2.4: Integer Functions and Elementary Number Theory

Exercise 8. [00] What are $100 \bmod 3$, $100 \bmod 7$, $-100 \bmod 7$, $-100 \bmod 0$?

Verified: yes
Solve time: 35s


By definition (1), $x \bmod y = x - y \lfloor x/y \rfloor$ when $y \ne 0$, and $x \bmod 0 = x$. We compute each case separately.

For $100 \bmod 3$, we have $\lfloor 100/3 \rfloor = \lfloor 33.333\ldots \rfloor = 33$, so

$100 \bmod 3 = 100 - 3 \cdot 33 = 100 - 99 = 1.$

For $100 \bmod 7$, we have $\lfloor 100/7 \rfloor = \lfloor 14.2857\ldots \rfloor = 14$, so

$100 \bmod 7 = 100 - 7 \cdot 14 = 100 - 98 = 2.$

For $-100 \bmod 7$, we have $\lfloor -100/7 \rfloor = \lfloor -14.2857\ldots \rfloor = -15$, so

$-100 \bmod 7 = -100 - 7 \cdot (-15) = -100 + 105 = 5.$

Finally, $-100 \bmod 0 = -100$ by definition.

Thus, the results are

$\boxed{100 \bmod 3 = 1,\quad 100 \bmod 7 = 2,\quad -100 \bmod 7 = 5,\quad -100 \bmod 0 = -100}.$