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:
108,129 = 3 × 7 × 19 × 271
108,129 is a composite number.
Written with exponents:
300,012 = 2 × 2 × 3 × 23 × 1,087 = 22 × 3 × 23 × 1,087
300,012 is a composite number.
108,129/300,012 =
(108,129 ÷ 3) / (300,012 ÷ 3) =
36,043/100,004
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.
108,129/300,012 =
(3 × 7 × 19 × 271)/(22 × 3 × 23 × 1,087) =
((3 × 7 × 19 × 271) ÷ 3) / ((22 × 3 × 23 × 1,087) ÷ 3) =
(7 × 19 × 271)/(22 × 23 × 1,087) =
36,043/100,004
As a decimal number:
Simply divide the numerator by the denominator, without a remainder, as shown below:
36,043/100,004 =
36,043 ÷ 100,004 =
0.360415583377 ≈
0.36