When 2 is divided by 10

Question

When 2 is divided by 10, is the remainder 2 ?
or 2 divided by 10 should be considered as 1 divided by 5 and the remainder should be 1 !

bhatiamanu05 · Answer

It totally depends upon what is the questions. If question ask about finding remainder it should be 2 not 1. 
If it is about solving some expression you can use 2/10 equal to 1/5. but for remainder questions it should be 2 not 1.

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi praveensahni,

"Remainder" questions are not a big part of the GMAT, but you're likely to see 1 on Test Day. Thankfully the concepts involved are pretty simple:

First, when dealing with remainders, you CANNOT "reduce" the fractions involved. Remainders are essentially "leftover pieces" in a division problem. If you change the numbers in the question, then you change the remainder.

In order to answer to your question, I'm going to start with a different example:

What is the remainder when 12 is divided by 10?

12/10 = 1 remainder 2

The reason is because 10 "goes into" 12 one time and 2 is "leftover."

What is the remainder when 2 is divided by 10?

2/10 = 0 remainder 2

The reason is because 10 "goes into" 2 zero times and the 2 is "leftover."

In most non-remainder questions, you'll be expected to reduce any fractions involved (or possibly convert the answer to another format). For example, if you prove that the answer to the question is 4/10, then the correct answer (if it were written as a fraction) would appear as 2/5. It could also appear as 0.4 or 40%.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

KarishmaB · Answer

When you divide by 10, the remainder can be anything from 0 to 9. If you reduce the fraction to 1/5, the divisor becomes 5 and range of remainders goes to 0 to 4. Hence, you should not cancel off the fractions when you need to find the remainder. That said, if the calculation is complicated and cancelling off will make it easier, go ahead and do it but remember to multiply it back.

e.g. 2/10 reduces to 1/5. The divisor is divided by 2.
Remainder we get here is 1.
To get the actual remainder, multiply the remainder by 2 to get remainder 2.

Another example: Say, you need to find remainder of 250/110. Reduce by 10 to get 25/11. Remainder 3. Actual remainder 3*10 = 30

bumpbot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club BumpBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

When 2 is divided by 10

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards