2.8: Modulus Operator
- Page ID
- 2998
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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:
Code 2.8.1 (Python)
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
.
You can also 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.