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:
1,056 = 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 3 × 11 = 25 × 3 × 11
1,056 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
4,876 = 2 × 2 × 23 × 53 = 22 × 23 × 53
4,876 is a composite number.
1,056/4,876 =
(1,056 ÷ 4) / (4,876 ÷ 4) =
264/1,219
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.
1,056/4,876 =
(25 × 3 × 11)/(22 × 23 × 53) =
((25 × 3 × 11) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 23 × 53) ÷ 22) =
(23 × 3 × 11)/(23 × 53) =
264/1,219
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
264/1,219 =
264 ÷ 1,219 =
0.216570959803 ≈
0.22