MATHEMATICS

IN THE
MODERN
WORLD
Mathematical
System
Objectives
In this Module you are going to learn to:
1. Use the mathematical concepts of Modular
Arithmetic in determining specific time, day
of the week, and year.

2. Use the mathematical concepts of Modular

Arithmetic in verifying whether a specific
product is legit or not through solving missing
numbers on its bar code.
1. What is 9 hours after 7AM?
2. What is 22 hours before 2PM?
3. What is 98 hours after 3AM?
4. What is 208 hours before 12AM?
5. What is 303 hours after 10PM?
6. What is 511 hours after 1PM?
7. If today is Wednesday, what day was 4 days ago?
8. Today is Saturday. What day is 61 days after?
9. What day is 100 days after if today is Monday?
10. If November 07, 2020 falls on a Saturday, on what day will November
07, 2033 fall?
11. Your birthday, February 07 this 2020 was Tuesday. What day was your
birth if your birth year is 2001?

12. Christmas day 2020 fall on a Friday. On what day will Christmas day fall
on 2050?

13. Solve for the missing digit in the barcode: 4 806018 40581X

14. Solve for the missing digit in the barcode: 4 800361 413X80

15. Solve for the missing digit in the barcode: 4 X00361 393683
 Clock Arithmetic
Think of time when attempting to understand modular arithmetic. Time keeps
going on forever, which means it has no end. We designate whether the time is
before noon or after noon by using the abbreviations A.M. and P.M. Many clocks
have the familiar 12-hour design. In this case, once 12:00 is reached on the clock,
we begin again with 1.

modular arithmetic, sometimes referred to as modulus arithmetic or clock

arithmetic, in its most elementary form, arithmetic done with a count that resets
itself to zero every time a certain whole number N greater than one, known as the
modulus (mod), has been reached.
Time
1. What is 14 hours after 4AM?
Answer: Since many clocks have the familiar 12-hour design, we can just simple do
simple arithmetic or just count 14 hours from 4AM in the clock but the second option
will consume a lot of time. So let’s have a simple arithmetic here. We know that a 12-
hour design of clock indicates that if the short hand of the clock is pointing to 4, after 12
hours, the same hand of the clock is pointing again to 4, but the difference is that it
passed through 12 that’s why from AM, it will become now a PM. Technically speaking,
12 hours after 4 o’clock in the morning is 4 o’clock in the afternoon. For another 12
hours, from PM it will now become AM again because it passed through 12 again and it
indicates that there were two (2) 12 hours have passed which is equivalent to 24 and
24 hours mean a single day. Technically speaking, 12 hours after 4AM is 4PM and
another 12 hours from 4PM is 4AM again which denotes another day (equivalent to 24
hours).
 Therefore, to determine what will be the time 14 hours after 4AM, we must divide 14 by
12 because we know that in a 12-hour design clock, for every 12 hours, the short hand of the
clock would be on the same number on the clock again.

14 ÷ 12 = 1 𝑟. 2

This denotes that the hand of the clock passed through 12 only once, therefore as the
hand of the clock returns to 4 after 12 hours, from AM, it would become PM. 12 hours from
4AM is 4PM The question is what is 14 hours after 4AM? Now we have the remainder of 2. We
already know that 12 hours after 4AM is 4PM. Just add 2 more hours, so 4PM plus 2
hours, the answer is 6PM.
2. What is 100 hours before 1PM?
It is obvious that we cannot count 100 hours before 1PM. Unlike with the first example, the
given is asking for the “before hour”. Same step, just divide 100 by 12.

100 ÷ 12 = 8 𝑟. 4

From the given 4AM, the shift of AM and PM depends upon the number of 12 hours or the quotient. If the number of 12 hours
(quotient) is ODD, the shift of the given will CHANGE (from AM it becomes PM) and if the number of 12 hours (quotient) is
EVEN, the shift of the given will be the SAME.
 Going back to the given, 100 hours before 1PM. Dividing 100 by 12, it gives us the quotient of 8
which is an EVEN number, therefore the reference point for the answer would be the SAME of the shift
of the given (1PM) which is PM.

Our reference time now for the answer is 1PM. We have a remainder of 4, and the
given is asking for the before hour. So for us to get the answer, we just subtract 4 hours from
1PM.
 3. What is 247 hours after 3PM?

The first thing to do is to divide 247 by 12, 247 ÷ 12 = 20 𝑟. 7

Since the quotient is 20, which is even number, our reference time for the
answer will be the SAME. So it would be 3PM. The given is looking for the
after hour, and we have the remainder of 7. Since we are concerned with
the after hour, we just add 7 more hours to 3PM for us to determine the
247 hours after 3PM. Adding 7 hours from 3PM, the answer would be
10PM.
Practice!
4. What is 162 hours after 10PM?
Day
Another mathematical concepts of modular arithmetic is determining specific day
in a week before and after the specific day.
Let us consider the following examples:

1. If today is Monday, what day is 16 days from today?

Answer: Unlike with the time having 12 as divisor because we have 12-hour design for clock, in
determining a particular day in a week, our divisor will be 7 because we have 7 days in week. We know
that if today is Monday, 7 days from now will Monday as well because we have completed one full week.
It is quite easy, just divide the number of days in the given by 7,

16 ÷ 7 = 2 𝑟. 2

In here, what we are after for is the remainder. We have 2, so our reference day is Monday, adding 2
more days because the key word is “from today”. 2 days from Monday, the answer would be
Wednesday.
 2. If today is Saturday, what was the day 211 days ago?

Answer: It is important to look for the keyword whether were going to

add or subtract the remainder from the reference day. Dividing 211 by 7,

211 ÷ 7 = 30 𝑟. 1

In this case, the keyword is “ago”. Therefore we are looking for the day
211 days before Saturday. We have the remainder 1, moving 1 day
backwards from Saturday, the answer is Friday.
 3. What day will it be after 147 days if today is Sunday?

Answer: The question is 247 days after Sunday. Dividing 147

by 7,

147 ÷ 7 = 21 𝑟. 0

Since we are not after with the quotient and we have no

remainder, the answer is still Sunday.
Practice!
Let us say today is Wednesday. What would be the day 524
days after Wednesday?

Practice 2
Let us say today is Wednesday. What would be the day 312
days ago?
 Date
The extension of the concept of day in the mathematical concepts
using modular Arithmetic is determining specific day given a particular
date and a year.

1. If May 19, 2013 was Thursday, on what day will it fall in the
year 2022?

We know that every single day in a year will automatically move one
day on the following year. If your birthday this year falls on a Monday, next
year your birthday will fall on a Tuesday. This happens for a regular year but if
the following year is a LEAP year, it would be a special case.

A leap year happens once in every four years. This year has 366 days
because of the existence of the 29th of February. Leap years starting 2000 are
2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028, and so forth.
If we answer the question through listing the year and the particular
day to which May 19 has fallen in the interval from the year 2013
up to the year 2022, we will get the answer that the May 19, 2022
will fall on a Monday. Taking into the consideration that for every
leap year, we moved 2 days to give way for the existence of
February 29. In the given interval, there are 2 leap years, 2016 and
2020, which skip the days, Sunday and Friday, respectively.

But this process is only limited for a short range of interval. Just like
the time and day, we shall do some calculation but it is quite easy
because the process doesn’t include division. It might include
division but same with process of finding a particular day. Just a
subtraction and a mere counting for moving the days.

All we have to do is to determine how many years are there in the

interval from 2013 and 2022. By doing subtraction,
2022 - 2013 = 9
This indicates that there are 9 years. 9 years is equivalent to 9
moves of days from Thursday (because according to the given
May 19, 2013 was Thursday). We know that the 9 days that
we’ve got are the
“automatic move” for every year. The “extra move” for the
existence of leap year in the interval is not counted.

There are 2 leap years in the interval (2016 and 2020) so we

need to add 2 more years.

9 (𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠) + 2 (𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠) = 11

Doing the same process in finding specific day,

11 ÷ 7 = 1 𝑟. 4

So we are after with the remainder, we need to add 4 days

from Thursday, so the answer is Monday
 2. If February 14, 2021 will fall on a Sunday, on what day will it fall in the year 2036?

It takes a lot of time if we’re going to list all the years between 2021 and 2036 to determine the day to
which February 14 will fall on 2036. We just need to determine how many years are there in the
interval from 2021 to 2036.

2036 - 2021 = 15

So we have now, 15 years which correspond to 15 moves from Sunday. So what we need to add are
the additional years for the existence of leap years. The leap years included in the interval are 2024,
2028, 2032, and 2036.We have 4 leap years.
We know that these years (leap years) have 29th on February that’s why all the dates after such date (March 1
onwards) will be having extra move because they give an extra day for the position of February 29 during leap
years.

It is clear that every leap year, the dates having two moves are those dates after February 29. During leap
year, the dates before February 29 have only 1 move. They will be having the extra move the year after the
leap year.
Since February 14 will have its move during the year after the leap year, it is clear that for this example, what we need
to count are the years after the leap year, not the leap years. The year after the leap years in the interval are 2021,
2025, 2029, and 2033. There are 4 after-leap-year years

But we need not to count the year 2021 because this is the starting year of the interval. It means that February 14,
2021 which is Sunday is already given. Therefore, we have only additional 3 extra moves for the years 2025,
2029, and 2033.

15 (𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠) + 3(𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑎 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑠) = 18

To determine the day,

18 ÷ 7 = 2 𝑟. 4

The remainder is 4, so we need to move 4 days from Sunday, the answer is Thursday.
 3. This year, we celebrated Independence day on the second Friday of June. On what day will
Independence day fall on 2041?

First step, get the difference between given years. The years are this year (2023) and 2041.
2041 - 2023 = 18

2024, 2028, 2032, 2036, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 2040

So we have, 5 more additional years. The total moves now is 23.

23 ÷ 7 = 3 𝑟. 2

Moving 2 days from Friday, the answer is Sunday.

 4. If November 1, 2020 falls on a Sunday, on what day was it fell last 2010?

This item is asking for the year in the past. Same steps will be applied but again, the occurrence of leap years in the
interval is something that we need to give of importance. We should take note what years we need to count given a
specific date. Here’s the table if we are looking for the before years.

Since we note the existence of February 29 every leap year, the adjustments for the extra
move if we are looking for the years in the past will be reversed. The dates before February 29
(January 1 – February 28) will have their extra move every leap year unlike if we are looking with the
after years, they have their extra move the year after the leap year. On the other hand, the dates after
February 29 (March 1 – December 31) will have their extra move the year before the leap year
unlike if we are looking with the after years, they have their extra move every leap year.
First step, get the difference between given years. The years are this
year (2020) and 2010.

2020 - 2010 = 10

Second step, determine the date and count the years to which the given date had its
extra move. Since we are dealing with the year in the past and the date is November
1, we need to count the years before the leap year.

2019, 2015, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 2011

We have 3 before-leap-year years in the interval. Therefore, we have 13 moves.

13 ÷ 7 = 1 𝑟. 6

Moving 6 days before Sunday, the answer is Monday.

5. This year, your mother celebrated her 50 birthday last January 20 and it was one of the best
th

Saturdays happened in your life. On what day was your grandmother gave birth to her?
Barcodes
One of the practical applications of Mathematical systems using
modular arithmetic is identifying a certain number in a 13-digit bar
code to check whether it is legit or not. We know that every
product we consume has its own bar code.

Barcodes keep products organized within databases and keep

products universally
recognized (Smyth, 2019).
With so many identification numbers and codes used in
commerce and other places, it's important to be able to
"check" that the number is written, typed, or entered
correctly.

A check digit is added somewhere in the

identifying number to reduce errors
made by humans or machines.

9781861978769bookland by BillPE

Some of the errors that check digits detect are the following:
● single digit errors replacing 1 with 2
● transposition errors switching 12 with 21
● phonetic errors using "50" instead of "15"
In 1970, books began to be published with a 10-digit ISBN
(International Standard Book Numbers).
The first nine numbers helped to identify the country group,
publisher, and title of the book.
The last digit was a check digit for verification.

The first 9-digits of the ISBN for The Hobbit are 0-618-00221.
Follow the steps below to determine the check digit.
1. Write the formula below replacing the letters with the digits from the ISBN.

(a x 10) + (b x 9) + (c x 8) + (d x 7) + (e x 6) + (f x 5) + (g x 4) + (h x 3) + (i x 2)
= (0 x 10) + (6 x 9) + (1 x 8) + (8 x 7) + (0 x 6) + (0 x 5) + (2 x 4) + (2 x 3) + (1 x 2)

2. Evaluate the expression.

= 0 + 54 + 8 + 56 + 0 + 0 + 8 + 6 + 2 = 134

3. Divide the sum by 11. Find the remainder.

134 mod 11 = 2
4. The check digit is the difference of 11 and the remainder.
11 - 2 = 9
The first nine-digits of the ISBN for
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone are 0-590-35340.
Find the check digit.
The check digit is 3.

Not including the check digit, how many unique ISBNs are there?

x x x x x x x x

1,000,000,000 unique ISBNs

Why is this a problem?

Let us have some examples to see the function of modular
arithmetic in the numbers in the barcode of a certain product.

1. Here’s a bar code of a 1.5L of Most of the products have 13 digits on the barcode. Since
Sprite. Solve we are looking for the last digit (13th digit) of the barcode of a
for the missing digit. 1.5L of Sprite, we need to do some calculations and follow a
certain formula.
4 801981 11860X
The formula for finding the 13th digit of the bar code is
𝑑13 = 10 - (𝑑1 + 3𝑑2 + 𝑑3 + 3𝑑4 + 𝑑5 + 3𝑑6 + 𝑑7 + 3𝑑8
+ 𝑑9 + 3𝑑10 + 𝑑11 + 3𝑑12) 𝑚𝑜𝑑 10
The formula is quite long but if we digest the notation, it only tells us that if we are looking
for the last digit of a 13-digit barcode, given the remaining 12 digits, we must note the
position of each digit in the barcode
Since January 1, 2007, books are now assigned a 13-digit ISBN
number. A three digit EAN (European Article Number)
was added to the beginning of the order.
However, this changes the process of how the check number
is created.

The first 12-digits of the ISBN for The Hunger Games are 978-0-439-02348.
Follow the steps below to determine the check digit.
1. Write the formula below replacing the letters with the digits from the ISBN.

(a x 1) + (b x 3) + (c x 1) + (d x 3) + (e x 1) + (f x 3) + (g x 1) + (h x 3) +
(i x 1) + (j x 3) + (k x 1) + (l x 3)
= (9 x 1) + (7 x 3) + (8 x 1) + (0 x 3) + (4 x 1) + (3 x 3) + (9 x 1) +
(0 x 3) + (2 x 1) + (3 x 3) + (4 x 1) + (8 x 3)
2. Evaluate the expression.
= 9 + 21 + 8 + 0 + 4 + 9 + 9 + 0 + 2 + 9 + 4 +24 = 99
3. Divide the sum by 10. Find the remainder.
99 mod 10 = 9
4. The check digit is the difference of 10 and the remainder.
10 - 9 = 1
The first twelve-digits of the ISBN for
Twilight are 978-031616017. Find the check digit.

The check digit is 9.

Not including the check digit, how many unique ISBNs are there with
the 13-digit code?

= 10,000,000,000,000 unique ISBNs

 2. Here’s a bar code of Oishi Prawn Crackers. Solve for the missing
digit.
4 80019X 177962
Unlike with the first example, the last digit of the barcode is given. The missing digit is the
7th digit of the barcode. Let’s go back to the formula.

Since we already know the position of the missing digit (7th digit) we
must take note the rule for the Even-number position and Odd-number
position.

Recall that we need to get the sum of the digits and for those digits
placed in the even-number position, they will be multiplied by three, and for
those digits placed in the odd-number position, they will be multiplied by one.
 480019𝑋 177962
𝑑13 = 10 - (𝑑1 + 3𝑑2 + 𝑑3 + 3𝑑4 + 𝑑5 + 3𝑑6 + 𝑑7 + 3𝑑8 + 𝑑9 + 3𝑑10 + 𝑑11 + 3𝑑12) 𝑚𝑜𝑑 10

2 = 10 - (4 + 24 + 0 + 0 + 1 + 27 + 𝑋 + 3 + 7 + 21 + 9 + 18) 𝑚𝑜𝑑 10

2 = 10 - (𝑋 + 114) 𝑚𝑜𝑑 10
For this part, let us do some Algebra here.
2 = 10 - (𝑋 + 114) 𝑚𝑜𝑑 10

Just do the transposition (I just used transposition instead of Addition Property of Equality). Just transpose the part of the solution that are red to
the left-hand side of the equation and transpose 2 to the right-hand side of the equation.

(𝑋 + 114)𝑚𝑜𝑑 10 = 10 – 2

Simplifying the right-hand side of the equation,

(𝑋 + 114)𝑚𝑜𝑑 10 = 8

The equation means that if we divide (x + 114) by 10, the remainder would be 8. We know that any number, divided by 10, the remainder
is its last digit. So what we need to think is that what should be the value of x that is to be added to 114 to get the remainder of 8. Therefore, what
should be the number greater than 114 having 8 as its last digit. We used greater than because the operation is addition. The nearest number
that is greater than 114 with 8 as its last digit is 118.So what should be the value of X to be added to 114 to get 118?

The 7th digit in the Oishi Prawn Crackers is 4.

 3. Here’s a bar code of Bear brand Adult Plus. Solve for the missing digit.
4 800361 X79373

First step is to determine the place of the missing digit. The missing digit in a 13-digit barcode
is the 8th digit. 8 is an even-number position, so we know that this digit must be multiplied by 3.

Applying to the given bar code of Bear brand Adult Plus,

4 800361 𝑋79373
𝑑13 = 10 - (𝑑1 + 3𝑑2 + 𝑑3 + 3𝑑4 + 𝑑5 + 3𝑑6 + 𝑑7 + 3𝑑8 + 𝑑9 + 3𝑑10 + 𝑑11 + 3𝑑12) 𝑚𝑜𝑑 10
3 = 10 - (4 + 24 + 0 + 0 + 3 + 18 + 1 + 3𝑋 + 7 + 27 + 3 + 21) 𝑚𝑜𝑑 10
3 = 10 - (3𝑋 + 108) 𝑚𝑜𝑑 10
(3𝑋 + 108)𝑚𝑜𝑑 10 = 10 - 3
(3𝑋 + 108)𝑚𝑜𝑑 10 = 7

Since we have the representation of 3X for the missing digit, it means that we have 3 candidates for the correct answer.
But how can we find those three?

The possible answers for the value of X are the numbers from 0 – 9. What we need to is to get the interval for the possible
values of 3X + 108. When we say interval, the range from the lowest possible value up to the largest possible value.

The possible answers are from 0-9, 0 being the lowest value and 9 being the largest value. If we
substitute these two to the 3X+108, we can find the values for the interval.
 If 𝑥 = 0,
3(0) + 108 = 108
If 𝑥 = 9,
3(9) + 108 = 135
The interval now for the candidates for the correct answer is 108-135.
(3𝑋 + 108)𝑚𝑜𝑑 10 = 7

We know that 3X + 108 must have 7 as its last digit because it serves as the remainder. This is now we need the interval. The
interval we have is from 108 to 135. In this interval, what are the numbers with 7 as its last digit? Those are 117 and 127.

Unfortunately, we only have two numbers with 7 as its last digit included in the interval. This is a rare case. Most of the time,
you will have three possible answer from the interval.

What we need to do is to equate 3X+108 to 117 and 127 and the value that will give the answer
as whole number is the correct answer.

For 117, For 127,

3𝑋 + 108 = 117 3𝑋 + 108 = 127
3𝑋 = 117 – 108 3𝑋 = 127 − 108
3𝑋 = 9 3𝑋 = 19
𝑋=3 𝑋 =19/3
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