18.1: Modulus Operator
- Page ID
- 15376
The modulus operator works on integers and yields the remainder when the first operand is divided by the second. In Python, the modulus operator is a percent sign (%
). The syntax is the same as for other operators:
>>> quotient = 7 / 3 >>> print quotient 2 >>> remainder = 7 % 3 >>> print remainder 1
So 7 divided by 3 is 2 with 1 left over.
The modulus operator turns out to be surprisingly useful. For example, you can check whether one number is divisible by another — if x % y
is zero, then x
is divisible by y
.
Also, you can extract the right-most digit or digits from a number. For example, x % 10
yields the right-most digit of x
(in base 10). Similarly x % 100
yields the last two digits.