What are the last two digits of 63*35*37*82*71*41?

VERITAS PREP OFFICIAL SOLUTION:

We know that to find the last two digits, we need to find the remainder we get when we divide the product by 100.

Remainder of (63*35*37*82*71*41)/ 100

Note that we can simplify this expression by canceling out the 5 and 2 in the numerator and denominator. But before we do that, here is an important note:

Note: We cannot just cancel off the common terms in the numerator and denominator to get the remainder. But, if we want to cancel off to simplify the question, we can do it, provided we remember to multiply it back again.

So say, we want to find the remainder when 14 is divided by 10 i.e. 14/10 (remainder 4). But we cancel off the common 2 to get 7/5. The remainder here will be 2 which is not the same as the remainder obtained by dividing 14 by 10. But if we multiply 2 back by 2 (the number we canceled off), the remainder will become 2*2 = 4 which is correct.

Take another example to reinforce this – what is the remainder when 85 is divided by 20? It is 5.

We might rephrase it as – what is the remainder when 17 is divided by 4 (cancel off 5 from the numerator and the denominator). The remainder in this case is 1. We multiply the 5 back to 1 to get the remainder as 5 which is correct.

So keeping this very important point in mind, let’s go ahead and cancel the common 5 and 2.

We need the

Remainder of (63*7*37*41*71*41*5*2)/10*5*2

Remainder of (63*7*37*41*71*41)/10

Now using concept 2, let’s write the numbers in form of multiples of 10

Remainder of (60+3)*7*(30+7)*(40+1)*(70+1)*(40+1)/10

Remainder of 3*7*7*1*1*1/10

Remainder of 147/10 = 7

Now remember, we had canceled off 10 so to get the actual remainder so we need to multiply by 10: 7*10 = 70.

When 63*35*37*82*71*41 is divided by 100, the remainder is 70. So the last two digits of 63*35*37*82*71*41 must be 70.

Answer (D)