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:
1,032,272 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 149 × 433 = 24 × 149 × 433
1,032,272 is a composite number.
7,999,990 = 2 × 5 × 799,999
7,999,990 is a composite number.
1,032,272/7,999,990 =
(1,032,272 ÷ 2) / (7,999,990 ÷ 2) =
516,136/3,999,995
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.
1,032,272/7,999,990 =
(24 × 149 × 433)/(2 × 5 × 799,999) =
((24 × 149 × 433) ÷ 2) / ((2 × 5 × 799,999) ÷ 2) =
(23 × 149 × 433)/(5 × 799,999) =
516,136/3,999,995
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
516,136/3,999,995 =
516,136 ÷ 3,999,995 =
0.129034161293 ≈
0.13