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Remainder

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The remainder of a division of two integers \frac {a}{b},\ b \neq 0 is the integer r < b such that a = qb + r, where q is the quotient; in other words, r is the part of a that is not divisible by b. If a = 4, and b = 3, for example, the division \frac {4}{3} would have remainder 1, since 4 = (1)3 + 1 (notice that the quotient, in this case, is one). If b is a divisor of a, the remainder is said to be zero.


The concept of a remainder is related to modular arithmetic: r is said to be the residue class of a in modulo b iff a = qb + r (an equivalent statement would be a \equiv r \mod b).


It is important to notice that the remainder is most useful when an integer quotient is desired, as we can always say that a = qb for any real number q (in the example provided earlier, q = 1.\overline{3}).

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