PET 2026 · CSAT

Calendars through remainders modulo seven

Month lengths, leap-year tests, odd-day shifts and calendar repetition

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MINDMAPS FOR UPSCPET 2026 · VISUAL REVISION

Calendars through remainders modulo seven

Month lengths, leap-year tests, odd-day shifts and calendar repetition

Process flow
Calendar Remainder Method
  1. 1. Check Month Lengths and Leap Years

    • April, June, September and November have 30 days; January, March and July have 31 days.
    • A non-century year is leap if divisible by 4; century years are leap only if divisible by 400.
    • February has 28 days in an ordinary year (0 odd days) and 29 in a leap year (1 odd day).
  2. 2. Count Elapsed Days Between Dates

    • Exclude the starting date and include the target date when counting elapsed days in a span.
    • From 10 Oct to 23 Dec 2023: Oct gives 31 − 10 = 21 days, Nov 30, and Dec 23 (total 74 days).
    • You may reduce each month modulo 7 first: 21 ≡ 0, 30 ≡ 2, 23 ≡ 2, giving 0 + 2 + 2 = 4.
  3. 3. Shift the Weekday Modulo 7

    • Divide elapsed days by 7; the remainder is the net weekday shift (74 = 10 × 7 + 4 gives 4).
    • Move forward for a later date and backward for an earlier date: Tuesday + 4 days = Saturday.
    • An ordinary year (365 days) shifts the calendar by 1 weekday; a leap year (366 days) by 2.
  4. 4. Match Whole-Year Calendars

    • Two years share an identical calendar only if 1 Jan falls on the same weekday and both match in leap status.
    • From 2016 to 2044 (28 years, 7 leap years), shift is 28 + 7 = 35 ≡ 0 (mod 7); both are leap.
    • Do not apply a 28-year rule blindly across non-leap century years like 1900 or 2100.
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Practise this concept · संबंधित प्रश्न

One visual, several questions. These links open the original paper at the matching question.

25 Oct · Shift 1 · 2026

30 Oct · Shift 1 · 2026

Sources & study notes · स्रोत

Independent revision material, linked to the paper’s concepts. The question papers and answer-key status are available on OpenPYQ.