These rules are general - they work at the property level. For example, we can make rules like this: This is huge - it lets us explore math at a deeper level and find relationships between types of numbers, not specific ones. Why’s this distinction important? It’s the beginning of abstraction - we’re noticing the properties of a number (like being even or odd) and not just the number itself (“37”). Shortly after discovering whole numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5…) we realized they fall into two groups: There’s a nice article on modular arithmetic that inspired this post. Instead of hitting you in the face with formulas, let’s explore an idea we’ve been subtly exposed to for years. I hadn’t given it much thought, but realized the modulo is extremely powerful: it should be in our mental toolbox next to addition and multiplication.
A reader recently suggested I write about modular arithmetic (aka “taking the remainder”).
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