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here 2^18 is divisible by 2^7 completely.

but 2^4 is not divisible by 2^1-7.
simplifying it, 16/128.

remainder is 16.

ans E
kevincan
What is the remainder when\( 2^{18} + 2^4\) is divided by \(2^7\)?

(A) 0
(B) 1
(C) 2
(D) 3
(E) 16
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when i am trying to solve this question, i am getting asswer as 1

when we add 2 power 18 + 2power 4
and divide it by 2 power 7
common power cancel and answer remains of 16385 / 8 which give reminder 1
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Hey,

whenever you cancel a term, like you said power cancel 2^4 its a rule of division and remainders that you have to multiply it back when you get the remainder, for instance if you have to find remainder of 36/16,

1. You can see the remainder is 4
2. But if you cancel both the terms by 4 you will get 9/4 and here the remainder is coming as 1
3. But since you cancelled both the terms by 4 you have to multiply the 4 back again to the remainder 1

Hope this helps.
dotsoftme
when i am trying to solve this question, i am getting asswer as 1

when we add 2 power 18 + 2power 4
and divide it by 2 power 7
common power cancel and answer remains of 16385 / 8 which give reminder 1
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Note: Remainders get added and multiplied..

Example..
3+15 divided by 11 will give 3+(15-11) or 7 as remainder. =>>18 divided by 11 also gives 7 as remainder.
3*15 divided by 11 will give 3*(15-11) or 12, that is 12-11 or 1 as remainder.=>>45 divided by 11 also gives 1 as remainder.

Knowing the above, let us tackle the question at hand.

Remainder when \( 2^{18} + 2^4\) is divided by \(2^7\) is same as remainder when ( \( 2^{18} \) divided by \(2^7\)) + (\( 2^4\) divided by \(2^7\)).
Now \( 2^{18} \) is multiple of \( 2^7 \), so remainder will be 0, while \( 2^{4} \) is less than \( 2^{7} \) so \( 2^4 \) itself will be the remainder.
Hence answer is 0+\( 2^{4} \) or 16.

E


kevincan
What is the remainder when\( 2^{18} + 2^4\) is divided by \(2^7\)?

(A) 0
(B) 1
(C) 2
(D) 3
(E) 16
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Hi dotsoftme,

Your factoring is actually correct, and I like that you spotted the common power. The problem is in the very last step, when you read the remainder straight off the reduced fraction.

Here's what you did:
- 2^18 + 2^4 = 2^4 · (2^14 + 1) = 2^4 · 16385
- Dividing by 2^7 and cancelling 2^4 top and bottom gives 16385 / 2^3 = 16385 / 8
- 16385 = 2048 × 8 + 1, so that reduced fraction leaves remainder 1

All true - but that 1 is not the answer to the original question.

The rule you missed

When you cancel a common factor k from both the number and the divisor, the remainder gets divided by k too - so you must multiply it back at the end.

Why? If a number splits as a = (divisor)·q + r, then multiplying everything by k gives k·a = (k·divisor)·q + k·r. The remainder scales by the same k.

You cancelled 2^4 = 16, so the real remainder is 1 × 16 = 16. That matches choice E, and it's exactly the 16 that agrasan and the others got by keeping 2^4 intact as 16/128.

Quick check with small numbers

Find the remainder of 20 ÷ 8: it's 4 (since 20 = 2×8 + 4).

Now cancel the common factor 4: you get 5 ÷ 2, remainder 1. Multiply that 1 back by the 4 you cancelled - 4.

So cancelling to simplify is fine - just remember to scale the remainder back up by whatever you cancelled.

Answer: E

dotsoftme
when i am trying to solve this question, i am getting asswer as 1

when we add 2 power 18 + 2power 4
and divide it by 2 power 7
common power cancel and answer remains of 16385 / 8 which give reminder 1
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