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:
108,108 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 3 × 7 × 11 × 13 = 22 × 33 × 7 × 11 × 13
108,108 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
299,996 = 2 × 2 × 37 × 2,027 = 22 × 37 × 2,027
299,996 is a composite number.
108,108/299,996 =
(108,108 ÷ 4) / (299,996 ÷ 4) =
27,027/74,999
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.
108,108/299,996 =
(22 × 33 × 7 × 11 × 13)/(22 × 37 × 2,027) =
((22 × 33 × 7 × 11 × 13) ÷ 22) / ((22 × 37 × 2,027) ÷ 22) =
(33 × 7 × 11 × 13)/(37 × 2,027) =
27,027/74,999
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
27,027/74,999 =
27,027 ÷ 74,999 =
0.360364804864 ≈
0.36