Analyze the fractions to be compared and ordered, by category:
positive proper fractions: 165/256, 179/270, 156/257, 161/229
Simplify the operation
Reduce (simplify) the fractions to their lowest terms equivalents:
- To reduce a fraction to the lowest terms equivalent: divide both the numerator and denominator by their greatest common factor, GCF.
The fraction: 165/256
165/256 is already reduced to the lowest terms.
The numerator and denominator have no common prime factors:
- 165 = 3 × 5 × 11
- 256 = 28
- GCF (165; 256) = 1
The fraction: 179/270
179/270 is already reduced to the lowest terms.
The numerator and denominator have no common prime factors:
- 179 is a prime number.
- 270 = 2 × 33 × 5
- GCF (179; 270) = 1
The fraction: 156/257
156/257 is already reduced to the lowest terms.
The numerator and denominator have no common prime factors:
- 156 = 22 × 3 × 13
- 257 is a prime number.
- GCF (156; 257) = 1
The fraction: 161/229
161/229 is already reduced to the lowest terms.
The numerator and denominator have no common prime factors:
- 161 = 7 × 23
- 229 is a prime number.
- GCF (161; 229) = 1
Calculate the common numerator
The common numerator is nothing else than the least common multiple (LCM) of the numerators of the fractions.
To calculate the LCM, we need the prime factorization of the numerators:
165 = 3 × 5 × 11
179 is a prime number.
156 = 22 × 3 × 13
161 = 7 × 23
Multiply all the unique prime factors: if there are repeating prime factors we only take them once, and only the ones having the highest exponent (the highest powers).
LCM (165, 179, 156, 161) = 22 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 23 × 179 = 247,267,020
Calculate the expanding number of each fraction:
Divide the LCM by the numerator of each fraction.
165/256 ⟶ 247,267,020 ÷ 165 = (22 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 23 × 179) ÷ (3 × 5 × 11) = 1,498,588
179/270 ⟶ 247,267,020 ÷ 179 = (22 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 23 × 179) ÷ 179 = 1,381,380
156/257 ⟶ 247,267,020 ÷ 156 = (22 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 23 × 179) ÷ (22 × 3 × 13) = 1,585,045
161/229 ⟶ 247,267,020 ÷ 161 = (22 × 3 × 5 × 7 × 11 × 13 × 23 × 179) ÷ (7 × 23) = 1,535,820
Make the numerators of the fractions the same:
- Expand each fraction: multiply both its numerator and denominator by its corresponding expanding number, calculated above.
- This way all the fractions will have the same numerator:
165/256 = (1,498,588 × 165)/(1,498,588 × 256) = 247,267,020/383,638,528
179/270 = (1,381,380 × 179)/(1,381,380 × 270) = 247,267,020/372,972,600
156/257 = (1,585,045 × 156)/(1,585,045 × 257) = 247,267,020/407,356,565
161/229 = (1,535,820 × 161)/(1,535,820 × 229) = 247,267,020/351,702,780