$(7^{19} + 2)$ is divided by $6$. The remainder is
Aptitude
Number System
Difficulty: Easy
Choose an option
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A1
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B2
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C3
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D5
Answer
Correct Answer: 3
Explanation
### Concept & Logic
This problem uses the **Additive Property of Remainders**.
If you are dividing a sum of two terms by a divisor, you can find the remainder of each term individually and then add those remainders together.
$$ (A + B) \pmod D = [A \pmod D + B \pmod D] \pmod D $$
### Step-by-Step Solution
* **Given:**
* Expression: $7^{19} + 2$
* Divisor: $6$
* **Calculation:**
* Break the expression into two parts and divide each by $6$.
* **Part 1:** Find the remainder of $7^{19} \div 6$.
* Since $7$ is exactly $1$ more than the divisor $6$, we can write $7 = 6 + 1$.
* $7^{19} \pmod 6 = (6 + 1)^{19} \pmod 6$.
* As per the remainder theorem, this simply becomes $1^{19} = 1$.
* **Part 2:** Find the remainder of $2 \div 6$.
* Since $2$ is smaller than $6$, the remainder is simply $2$.
* **Combine:** Add the individual remainders together.
$$ \text{Total Remainder} = 1 + 2 = 3 $$
### Exam Strategy & Shortcut
Whenever the base is exactly $1$ more than the divisor (like $7$ and $6$), the remainder of that term to *any* power is always exactly $1$.
You can mentally skip all the math: $1 + 2 = 3$. This should take no more than 3 seconds to solve on test day.
### Common Pitfall
A careless mistake is trying to evaluate the power or add the $2$ to the base before dealing with the exponent (e.g., falsely thinking it acts like $9^{19}$). Always isolate terms separated by a plus or minus sign when applying the remainder theorem.
### Final Answer
**Therefore, the correct answer is 3.**