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:
Written with exponents:
1,032 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 43 = 23 × 3 × 43
1,032 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
40,044 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 47 × 71 = 22 × 3 × 47 × 71
40,044 is a composite number.
1,032/40,044 =
(1,032 ÷ 12) / (40,044 ÷ 12) =
86/3,337
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.
1,032/40,044 =
(23 × 3 × 43)/(22 × 3 × 47 × 71) =
((23 × 3 × 43) ÷ (22 × 3)) / ((22 × 3 × 47 × 71) ÷ (22 × 3)) =
(2 × 43)/(47 × 71) =
86/3,337
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
86/3,337 =
86 ÷ 3,337 =
0.025771651184 ≈
0.03