To reduce a fraction to the lowest terms equivalent: divide the numerator and denominator by their greatest common factor, GCF
To calculate the greatest common factor, GCF:
- 1. Factor the numerator and the denominator (into prime factors), build their prime factorizations.
- 2. Multiply all their common prime factors, taken by the lowest exponents.
1. Factor the numerator and the denominator:
To factor a number (into prime factors) - or, in other words, to break it down to prime factors - or, in other words, to build its prime factorization: find the prime numbers that multiply together to get that number.
The prime factorizations:
10,145 = 5 × 2,029
10,145 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
219,765 = 3 × 5 × 7 × 7 × 13 × 23 = 3 × 5 × 72 × 13 × 23
219,765 is a composite number.
10,145/219,765 =
(10,145 ÷ 5) / (219,765 ÷ 5) =
2,029/43,953
Yet another method to reduce the fraction
To reduce a fraction without calculating the GCF: factor its numerator and denominator, then all the common prime factors are easily identified and crossed out.
10,145/219,765 =
(5 × 2,029)/(3 × 5 × 72 × 13 × 23) =
((5 × 2,029) ÷ 5) / ((3 × 5 × 72 × 13 × 23) ÷ 5) =
2,029/(3 × 72 × 13 × 23) =
2,029/43,953
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
2,029/43,953 =
2,029 ÷ 43,953 =
0.046162946784 ≈
0.05